Kathmandu, June 18
Construction of dry port in Chobhar is scheduled to begin by the end of this fiscal as the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB) has completed the technical and financial proposals of the interested parties.
Following the completion of evaluation from the government agency, the World Bank group has been verifying the technical and financial proposals of the bidders.
The World Bank has said that the cross-verification of the bid evaluation will be completed within a few days. NITDB, the government agency responsible for the development and management of the dry ports, has said that the two contractors will work simultaneously to complete the construction process within the stipulated time.
“One international contractor and one national contractor will be selected and they will work simultaneously to complete the construction works within 18 months,” according to Laxman Bahadur Basnet, executive director of NITDB. “We are planning to start site mobilisation by the end of this fiscal.”
The World Bank Group has approved assistance worth $22 million for the dry port that will be developed over 200 ropanis of land in Chobhar, situated on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Along with the dry port, the NITDB has prepared a master plan of International Exhibition Venue (IEV) in Chobhar. Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has 1,054 ropanis of land in Chobhar, where Himal Cement Factory was operated earlier.
The World Bank Group had almost dropped the project due to the delay in land ownership transfer of Himal Cement. The process had taken almost three-and-a-half years. However, NITDB has expressed commitment to complete the project by the end of 2019.
The land ownership transfer process of Himal Cement at Chobhar was initiated on November 20, 2014, as the Cabinet had decided to transfer the land to erstwhile Ministry of Commerce to develop the dry port in Chobhar.
“The construction works will be expedited as only18 months are left for the closing date of project assisted by World Bank,” according to Basnet. The World Bank is extending assistance worth $22 million for this particular component under Nepal-India Regional Trade and Transport Project (NIRTTP).
The World Bank had aimed to close the financial reporting of NIRTTP by 2019. However, considering the efforts of NITDB to execute the project and witnessing the progress being made for implementation of the dry port project, World Bank has provided an extension of one year.
It is reported that the dry port Chobhar will be equipped with warehouses, parking lot, litigation shed, administrative buildings for customs, quarantine, bank and other required facilities for customs clearance. Similarly, the office of the NITDB will also be built there.
The dry port will have the capacity to accommodate 626 containers of 20-foot each, parking facility for 205 trucks, loading and unloading facilities, and six warehouses, according to NITDB. The depot has been designed to cope with traffic flow till 2039, based on the current import and export scenario.
Written by Sandeep
This news first appeared on https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/construction-of-chobhar-dry-port-to-begin-soon/ under the title “Construction of Chobhar dry port to begin soon”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
