PM’s India visit: Agreement signed on Inter-State Electronic Payment

Ramesh Lamsal / New Delhi, June 1: An agreement related to inter-state electronic payment has been signed between Nepal and India.

The agreement was signed between Nepal Clearing House of Nepal and NPCI of India in the course of the India visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ in New Delhi today.

Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Clearing House, Nileshman Pradhan, and Chief Executive Officer of NPCI, Ritesh Shukla, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU). NPCI is the organisation established by Central Bank of India.

After the agreement, it would be easy for those coming to India for study and treatment. The agreement has paved the way for easy transactions and payment.

CEO Pradhan said a significant agreement was signed to facilitate the electronic payment. He shared that the citizens of Nepal and India could be benefitted from it.

With this, the payment would be made by scanning QR code, which largely relives Nepalis coming in India from the problems of payment for various purposes.

Cargo railway service to Biratnagar comes into operation

A cargo rail service from Bathanaha of India to Budhnaga of Biratnagar-18- has come into operation today.

The well-decorated cargo rail arrived in Biratnagar from Bathanaha of bordering Indian district Katihar carrying raw materials of different industries.

The rail departed from Bathanaha after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the rail service in New Delhi. It arrived at Nepal Custom Yard in Biratnagar after eight hours.

PM Prachanda, who is on an official India visit and Indian PM Modi inaugurated the service by showing a green flag.

The cargo rail service has come to operation from Bathanaha to Budhnagar, Biratnagar-based Integrated Custom Checkpoint.

Industrialists, traders and the general public welcomed the cargo rail after its arrival at Biratnagar.

Earlier, raw materials of the industries used to be transported to Bathnaha, India through rail and thereby transported to industries in Biratnagar through heavy vehicles.

With the operation of the rail service, it would be easier and cheaper for the business community to transport their raw materials after their arrival at the integrated Custom Checkpoint in Biratnagar.

Chairperson of Morang Trade Association Nabin Rijal expressed his pleasure for their long-waited aspiration coming true, adding it would also reduce raw material costs and render relief to the customers.

Locals have demanded passenger-ferrying train service in the coming days.

The construction of the rail service project was estimated to be 3.73 billion Indian rupees. The project was implemented with the financial and technical assurance of the Indian government.

The contract for the project to operate rail service from Bathanaha, India to Katahari of Maheshpur Rural Municipality, Morang was signed 12 years ago. But, the project did not make progress due to disputes in land acquisition and compensation.

Now the service has come into operation in the only eight-km railways section.

India agrees to purchase 10,000 MW of electricity in ten years from Nepal

India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years.

An agreement to this regard was signed today on the occasion of the ongoing India visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. As per the agreement, the southern neigbour will purchase the power also generated from the projects including the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.

At a joint press meet, Prachanda shared information about this. Besides, the bodies concerned have been directed to garner a consensus over the detailed project report regarding the Pancheshwor Multi-Purpose Hydroelectricity Project. With this, it has been expected that the project which has remained stalled for long would find a pace.

Phukot Karnali to be developed on joint-venture with India

Moreover, the Vidhyut Utpadan Company Limited (VUCL), the Nepal government’s entity, and India’s NHPC Limited have agreed to undertake the Phukot Karnali Hydro Electric Project on a joint-venture.

An agreement to this regard was signed and exchanged between the two countries. VUCL Managing Director Surya Prasad Rijal and NHPC representatives signed the bilateral agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

The Indian side shall have 51 percent share and Nepal shall have 49 percent share for the project.

The capacity of the project is 426 megawatts and it is a run-of-river based in Kalikot district in the Karnali Province. The implementation of the project is estimated to cost around Rs 61.86 billion.

However, it was planned earlier to undertake the project with sole domestic investments, it was decided to develop on the joint-venture with India owing to challenges to garner investments, according to Rijal. RSS