Government urges Pvt. Sector to use Visakhapatnam Port

Kathmandu February 28- The government has urged the private sector to start necessary groundwork to utilise the Visakhapatnam Port of India for third-country trade. The Indian government agreed to allow Nepal-bound cargo to use the port as an additional gateway during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to India last week.

“The Letters of Exchange (LoEs) on ‘Operationalisation of Visakhapatnam Port’ and ‘Rail Transport To and From Visakhapatnam to Nepal’ have formalised the new transit corridor,” said Commerce Secretary Naindra Prasad Upadhyay, adding, “We will implement the same operational modality that we have been applying at Kolkata Port for the Visakhapatnam Port.”

The government, on the other hand, is also preparing to request the government of India to set up a customs office at Singabad as India has agreed to provide rail transit facility through Singabad in India for Nepal’s trade with and through Bangladesh. The government wants to utilise this facility provided by India as soon as possible. However, the private sector has said that they will not be able to utilise Visakhapatnam Port until the government finalises certain pre-requisites like establishing a Consulate General Office in Visakhapatnam like the one in Kolkata.