Kathmandu, Jul 20 (PTI) The proposed cross-border railway line connecting Raxaul City in India with Nepal's capital Kathmandu is promising and is feasible for building, according to the final location survey report on the USD 3 billion project, officials said on Thursday.
India has handed over to Nepalese authorities for review and consideration a final location survey report of the cross-border railway line connecting Raxaul City in Bihar with Kathmandu, officials said.
The report prepared by India’s Konkan Railway Corporation Limited was handed over to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport in Nepal last week, said Binod Kumar Khadka, the information officer at the ministry.
The ministry is currently studying the report submitted by the Indian railway authorities, he said.
“With this, we have to deliberate on how to execute and implement the project. The final location survey has shown that the project is promising and is feasible for building,” he added.
According to the report, it will cost USD 3 billion for the construction of the 141 km railway line project connecting Raxaul to Kathmandu, said Rohit Kumar Bisural, the Director General at the Department of Railways in Nepal.
The government of Nepal needs to carry out the land acquisition for the railway line before the construction of the project starts, he added.
The railway line will start from Raxaul and pass through Birganj, Nijgarh, Sisneri and Khokna in the Lalitpur district near Kathmandu.
In August 2018, Nepal and India had signed an MoU for conducting a preliminary engineering cum traffic survey for the rail link.
“In completion, the project will facilitate smooth transportation of goods from India to Nepal and vice versa," Bisural added.