Operations of all kind of cargos between ICDs and ICPs on the cards

Nepal and India will soon sign letter of exchange (LoE) that will pave way for Nepali traders to send and receive bulk open cargos and refrigerated wagons using the Indian railway service.
To expedite the signing process Nepal forwarded the draft of LoE, a part of the Rail Service Agreement (RSA) signed by the two countries in 2004, to the Indian government last week following a bilateral review meeting of the RSA in Kathmandu in February.
"We are waiting for feedback or confirmation on the draft from the India," Naindra Prasad Upadhaya, joint secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supply (MoCS) told Republica on Wednesday. "I believe the LoE, that was prepared on the basis of the agreements during the last review meeting of the RSA, will be okay for India as well."
Once signed it is expected to pave the way for Nepali traders to move containers between any of the Inland Containers Deopts (ICDs) and Integrated Check Points (ICPs) in Nepal. This is also expected to ease the problems of Nepali traders who have long been pushing for movement of open and refrigerated cargos while conducting trade with third countries as well.
The RSA, signed in 2004, limits movement of bilateral rail cargo between Birgunj ICD and Indian ports of Kolkata and Haldia. However, the last meeting has paved the way for unhindered movement of railway containers to any ICD. "Nepali business people are longing to make use of the benefit of using any ICD for the movement of open and covered cargos," an official at the MoCS said.
Currently, Birgunj ICD receives and forwards railway wagons from Kolkata and Haldia ports. Similarly, Birgunj ICP is expected to come into operation this year. Other ICPs in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj are under construction.
However, the last review meeting of the RSA failed to allow Nepali traders to acquire services of other railway company besides Containers Corporation (Concor) of India - the IndiaN partner in the Himalayan Terminal that is managing Birgunj ICD and also responsible for arranging containers.