New customs offices to be built at Birgunj, Tatopani
KATHMANDU, JUL 11 -
The government will relocate the customs offices at Birgunj and Tatopani as India and China are set to build new infrastructure with improved facilities.
India will build the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at a spot straddling the Alau and Sirsiya village development committees of Parsa district. The ICP will be systematic and properly interconnected border check post with facilities such as immigration, customs clearance and quarantine.
The ICP is being built with Indian assistance worth Rs 1.37 billion. The government has taken over 72 hectares of land at the project site to build the ICP. Indian External Affair Minister SM Krishna laid the foundation stone at the project site during his visit in April.
The project is part of the India-funded project that aims to establish another three ICPs in Nepalgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. The ICP at Birgunj will be the counterpart of the ICP being built in Raxaul, India, whose construction began in April 2010. Under the project, a pagoda style gate, a customs office and a yard will be built on either side of the border.
The Indian government has been supporting construction of such ICPs along its border with neighbouring countries, especially Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
"The ICP in Birgunj is expected to be completed within the next 14 months," said Tankamani Sharma, director general of the Department of Customs. "It will help in both exports and imports contributing to revenue growth," he said. Given its proximity with the dry port, more goods are likely to be transported through rail reducing transportation costs. Birgunj is the largest contributor of revenue (52.82 percent in the current fiscal year) among customs offices.
Meanwhile, China has signed an agreement with the government to build a new customs office at Larcha VDC of Rasuwa district where the Tatopani customs will be shifted once construction is finished. The place is 4 km to the south from the current customs office at Tatopani.
China will build the Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station at a cost of Rs 260 million which will have facilities including a warehouse area and diesel generator. Construction of a retaining wall and slope protection are other features of the project.
The station will also have a digital truck scale to weigh goods, according to a Finance Ministry official.
According to Nirmal Hari Adhikari, Tatopani customs chief, it will be like the ICP in Birgunj and have customs offices, inter-model and quarantine, post office and banks. However, there will no immigration office in the Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station," said Adhikari.
"There is not enough space at Tatopani customs, and there is a risk of the customs office being swept away by the Bhote Koshi River anytime because it is situated on its banks," said Sharma. The new customs office is estimated to be completed within the next two years.
Likewise, the government has acquired land around the Biratnagar customs office in order to build the ICP.
Source: Kantipur
The government will relocate the customs offices at Birgunj and Tatopani as India and China are set to build new infrastructure with improved facilities.
India will build the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at a spot straddling the Alau and Sirsiya village development committees of Parsa district. The ICP will be systematic and properly interconnected border check post with facilities such as immigration, customs clearance and quarantine.
The ICP is being built with Indian assistance worth Rs 1.37 billion. The government has taken over 72 hectares of land at the project site to build the ICP. Indian External Affair Minister SM Krishna laid the foundation stone at the project site during his visit in April.
The project is part of the India-funded project that aims to establish another three ICPs in Nepalgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. The ICP at Birgunj will be the counterpart of the ICP being built in Raxaul, India, whose construction began in April 2010. Under the project, a pagoda style gate, a customs office and a yard will be built on either side of the border.
The Indian government has been supporting construction of such ICPs along its border with neighbouring countries, especially Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
"The ICP in Birgunj is expected to be completed within the next 14 months," said Tankamani Sharma, director general of the Department of Customs. "It will help in both exports and imports contributing to revenue growth," he said. Given its proximity with the dry port, more goods are likely to be transported through rail reducing transportation costs. Birgunj is the largest contributor of revenue (52.82 percent in the current fiscal year) among customs offices.
Meanwhile, China has signed an agreement with the government to build a new customs office at Larcha VDC of Rasuwa district where the Tatopani customs will be shifted once construction is finished. The place is 4 km to the south from the current customs office at Tatopani.
China will build the Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station at a cost of Rs 260 million which will have facilities including a warehouse area and diesel generator. Construction of a retaining wall and slope protection are other features of the project.
The station will also have a digital truck scale to weigh goods, according to a Finance Ministry official.
According to Nirmal Hari Adhikari, Tatopani customs chief, it will be like the ICP in Birgunj and have customs offices, inter-model and quarantine, post office and banks. However, there will no immigration office in the Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station," said Adhikari.
"There is not enough space at Tatopani customs, and there is a risk of the customs office being swept away by the Bhote Koshi River anytime because it is situated on its banks," said Sharma. The new customs office is estimated to be completed within the next two years.
Likewise, the government has acquired land around the Biratnagar customs office in order to build the ICP.
Source: Kantipur
