China has asked for Nepal's prior consent to send a team of experts to carry out a feasibility study on the construction of the Kerung-Kathmandu railway.
If permitted by Nepal, China will deploy a team of experts for a survey on the cross-border railway in December.
The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) recently wrote a letter to the Ministry of Finance in this regard. In the letter, it is mentioned that China is ready to send a railway expert team to Nepal to proceed with survey work as soon as possible.
The CIDCA, which is under the State Council of China, coordinates development projects and aid with other countries.
"The Chinese side is saying that they will send a railway expert team within December if the Finance Ministry agrees to it. But, the Ministry of Finance has responded to the proposal,'' an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Nepalkhabar.
An official of the International Aid Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance said that this matter will be discussed only after the formation of the new government.
Nepal and China have repeatedly agreed to carry out a feasibility study for the construction of a cross-border railway. However, the investment modality and technical aspects of the construction of the project are yet to be agreed upon.
The Kerung-Kathmandu railway is one of the nine development projects proposed by Nepal with China to be built under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) concept. However, none of these projects have gained momentum.
The Kerung-Kathmandu Railway and 'Trans Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network' were also included in the joint statement issued after the Second Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing in April 2019. President Bidya Devi Bhandari participated in the forum.
An agreement on the railway project was also reached during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in October 2019. He returned home with a promise that his country would help turn land-locked Nepal into a ‘land-linked country’ by boosting connectivity between the two countries. Since then, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the projects including the railway with Nepal have not been prioritized by China. Neither did Nepal care about it.
Last March, during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Nepal, Nepal and China signed an agreement on providing technical assistance for the feasibility study of the railway. Wang also said that he would provide grants for feasibility studies of the train.
After that, in the second week of last August, there was a discussion between the two countries about the construction of a cross-border railway. In a bilateral meeting between Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka and Wang Yi in Qingdao, Wang reiterated his commitment to grant funding for the railway's feasibility study. He also promised to send a team of Chinese experts. According to the agreement, the Chinese government agency CIDCA has written a letter to the Ministry of Finance.
There are many technical complications in building a railway between Nepal and China. It will cost billions of rupees to bring a train from Shigatse in Tibet to Nepal through high mountains and gorges. It is estimated that the project will cost 200 million Yuan per kilometer, which is 209.6 million dollars.
The senior officials of the CIDCA also recently discussed the development projects under construction in Nepal with the officials of the Nepali Embassy in Beijing. Ambassador Bishnu Pukar Shrestha told Nepalkhabar that there were talks about the proposed railway, the second section of the ring road, and the electric transmission line among other projects.
"We have requested to speed up the projects in Nepal. The Chinese side has said that it is ready to proceed with the project and Nepal should facilitate it. Once the new government is formed, there will be some work on it," he said.
Second section of ring road extension
According to the source, China has shown its willingness to advance the second phase of Kathmandu ring road expansion.
While the extension of the Kalanki-Narayangopal Chowk section under the ring road expansion remains uncertain, China has requested to go ahead with it. The government has already allocated one billion rupees for the Fiscal Year 2079/2080 for the project.
In November last year, a Chinese technical team came to expedite the work for the ring road expansion. But it went back when problems cropped up for expansion. The first phase of the ring road expansion i.e. Koteshwar-Kalanki section construction has been completed. Now 8.2 km road from Kalanki to Maharajganj has to be extended. The problem has been noticed in the 244-meter section of the Maharajgunj area of the road which is being expanded with the help of the Chinese government. The issue of demolishing 19 houses in Maharajgunj area under the project has become complicated.
Construction of cross-border electric transmission lines
China has requested Nepal to facilitate the feasibility study to proceed with the construction of Nepal-China electric transmission line. A senior official of CIDCA told the official of the Nepali Embassy in Beijing that they are ready to speed up the transmission line. China will provide funding for the feasibility study of the project. The study is expected to be completed within the year 2024.
Agreement to spend Rs 15 billion grant
According to a cooperation deal sealed in November, China has also asked to select development projects. According to the agreement, China will provide Rs 15 billion in aid to Nepal. For that, the Ministry of Finance will have to give a list of projects to China.
