Kathmandu, June 20

Nepal and China have agreed to finalise the detailed project report (DPR) of Nepal-China cross-border railway at the next meeting, which is scheduled to be held in Kathmandu soon. Both the countries have agreed to conduct the DPR of the Kathmandu-Kyirong, Kathmandu-Pokhara and Kathmandu-Lumbini railways in a parallel manner.

“We had proposed to China to conduct DPR of Kathmandu-Kyirong railway in the first phase, but the Chinese government put in a proposal to conduct the DPR of all sections of the railway in a parallel manner,” said a high-level government official, who participated in the discussions held in Beijing today, seeking anonymity.

Earlier this week, a team comprising of senior government officials had left for Beijing to hold discussions on the detailed project report of the much-hyped 75-kilometre-long Trans Himalayan Kathmandu-Kyirong railway with the Chinese authorities.

According to the official, the date for the next meeting will be fixed on mutual understanding.

In the meeting held today, government authorities of both the nations agreed to move forward with works related to detailed geological survey and topological mapping in the first phase. “We will finish the works related to geological and topological survey before the fifth meeting. So, during the fifth meeting in Kathmandu, we will finalise the date to commence the DPR of the project,” he informed.

The Nepali delegation in the meeting was led by Devendra Karki, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, while the Chinese team was led by An Lusheng, deputy director of the National Railway Administration.

Meanwhile, the decision on who will bear the cost of the DPR is yet to be finalised. “However, the Chinese government has hinted that they will bear all the costs associated with the engineering aspects of the DPR,” the official added. Earlier, both the governments had agreed to simultaneously accelerate works on the detailed feasibility study (DFS) and DPR of the railway project.

During President Bidhya Devi Bhandari’s state visit to China in the last week of April to attend the second Belt and Road Forum, the Chinese government listed the cross-border Trans Himalayan railway among the projects to be built under the Belt and Road Initiative. The government is hopeful that China will provide necessary support for constructing the ambitious project.

China had conducted a pre-feasibility study at its own cost and submitted the report to Nepal in August last year. The study had concluded that the project was feasible and would cost Rs 257 billion to construct.