India plans to build Raxaul-Kathmandu rail line

NEW DELHI: India will build a railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu as part of its efforts to push Delhi-led connectivity projects in Nepal amid the proposed Chinese economic corridor through the Himalayan state to India.

The project is expected to be given the green signal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal on 11-12 May, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The project report of the rail line would be prepared by top officials of the two countries by first quarter of the next year. PM Modi had hosted his Nepal counterpart K P Oli in Delhi last month.

The visit saw Delhi promising to support construction of a rail-link between India and the capital of Nepal. India also agreed to support the landlocked country to get access to e oceans through inland waterways.


China proposes to build a railway line between Lhasa in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Kathmandu by 2022, with an apparent aim of reducing Kathmandu’s dependence on India.

India has given a tepid response to China’s proposal for constructing a trans-Himalayan economic corridor connecting the two countries and Nepal as the government is more keen on working bilaterally with Nepal on infrastructure and connectivity projects. Therefore, China avoided referring to the project at the recent Wuhan Summit between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The proposal for a trilateral economic corridor was mooted by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi after a meeting with his Nepalese foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali in Beijing last month.

Sources said the objective of the Raxaul-Kathmandu rail line was to expand “connectivity” between the two neighbours and “enhance people-to-people linkages and promote economic growth and development”.

The two countries also propose to complete the stretch of railway lines from Jayanagar to Janakpur/Kurtha and from Jogbani to Biratnagar Custom Yard by the end of this year.

This will be Modi’s third visit to the Himalayan nation after assuming office in May 2014.