Nepal, India agree to speed up construction of ICPs

KATHMANDU, MAR 15 -

Nepal and India have agreed to speed up work on the planned Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) which provide various facilities including immigration, customs check, quarantine, freight forwarding, information and communication technology management, financial institutions and others for the convenience of traders.

Currently, the construction of an ICP in Birgunj has been started while preliminary works at three other customs points in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Nepal gunj have been started.

India has been building the ICPs at all the four places on both sides of the border, and they are expected to facilitate trade as a result of integrated services. Nepal has to make available the land to build the ICPs and India will build them on the Nepal side as per the agreement reached between the two countries in 2009.

Amid slow progress so far in the construction of the projects, the two sides met in New Delhi on Wednesday to review the progress and speed up construction work on both sides. The Nepal i team was led by the secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development and the India n side was headed by the secretary looking after border management.

Jibaraj Koirala, a member of the Nepal i delegation, said that Nepal had resolved land acquisition problems in Biratnagar and Bhairahawa, and that it was now time to speed up work on the ICPs. “We are in a position to hand over the land to India for their construction,” he said.

According to Koirala, Nepal raised three issues during the meeting-speeding up the project, completing the work on both sides of the border at the same time and changing the design of the ICPs a little to provide more space.

According to him, the number of warehouses in the customs area and the parking area has been found to be a little small considering the increased movement of vehicles and goods. Nepal asked to expand the area by changing the design of the proposed ICPs. “But the India n side said that they would first complete the project as per the current design and expand it in the next phase if necessary,” Koirala added.

Accepting Nepal ’s request to speed up the construction work, India also asked Nepal to rush with the clearance of goods necessary for the construction and settle the day-to-day problems that appear while working in the field.

With the faster progress of the construction of the ICPs on the India n side of the border, Nepal had also requested the India n side to complete the projects on both sides at the same time. According to the Commerce Ministry, about 75 percent of the ICP structure in Raxaul, India has been completed while the blocks for administrative work and surveillance have been completed in Birgunj. “The construction of the building and other structures for other services are progressing,” said an official of the Commerce Ministry.

The India n government has earmarked a total of IRs 1.20 billion for the Biratnagar-Jogbani customs. Similarly, an estimated IRs 340 million each has been allocated for the Birgunj-Raxaul customs and the Bhairahawa-Sunauli customs while IRs 290 million has been set aside for the Nepal gunj-Rupaidiya customs. India is reported to be constructing a total of 13 ICPs with its neighbouring countries including Nepal , Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan to facilitate bilateral trade.

Source: The Kathmandu Post