Construction of Integrated Check Post (ICP) has kicked off at Jayeshpur of Nepalgunj on the Nepal-India border point following the appointment of a contractor by the Indian government. The ICP is being built with the financial support of the Indian government. Construction work on the ICP is expected to be complete within two years.

Nepal government has also completed the compensation process with land owners and acquired the 90 bigahas of land neccessary for the ICP. The contractor has already started building walls and fences. Out of the 90 bigahas, 27 is allotted for road facilities.

Although Nepal and India reached an agreement in 2005 to build ICPs across the border at Biratnagar, Birgunj, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj, only one has been constructed so far in Birgunj-Raxaul.

Construction of ICP in Nepalgunj-Rupedia would facilitate cross-border movement as well as screening, import and export of commodities and vehicles.

Janardan Acharya, head of the Nepalgunj Customs Office, said that the Indian government informed Nepali officials to complete ongoing construction work within two years.

“We have been informed that the Indian government has already contracted out the construction of the project. The Indian government has taken the responsibility of all construction works related to the project,” he said.

When the ICP comes online, many buildings will be located under a single roof and offer a range of services to remove the hassle of going to various posts for customs and immigration clearance  related paperwork. The ICP will feature buildings for a warehouse, parking yard, office building, security yard, litigation shed, quarantine and check post. 

Currently, most border points between Nepal and India have customs related offices located at different locations. This results in traders facing difficulties in getting the necessary paperwork in a timely manner.

 As the Nepalgunj border point is the shortest distance from Delhi, the capital city of India, a proposal has been made by the authorities of both governments to construct a four-lane highway and four-gauge railway line on the Indian side .

Traders on both sides of the Nepalgunj border believe that various goods could be imported and exported at a lower price due to reduced transportation costs once ICP is set up. Nepali traders expect that it would be easy to export herbs and other produce to Indian markets. Residents in Nepalgunj expect that construction of ICP would bolster economic activities and employment opportunities in the area.

Once the ICP comes into operation, modern cargo-shipping facilities would be introduced and railroad would be expanded up to the ICP. Vehicles can also be checked in the border point conveniently. As Integrated Security Project is implemented, security officials on both sides of the border could perform security checks. 

Authorities of the Indian government are cooperating with officials from Department of Urban Development & Building Construction for construction works related to ICP.