The much-delayed Dodhara Chandani dry port and check post project in farwestern Nepal has finally moved ahead after the provincial cabinet approved the use of forest land to build the facility.

The Rs15 billion project is located in Dodhara Chandani Municipality, Kanchanpur district, and is listed by the government as a national priority project.

In 2023, the government approved the project's environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.

On September 18, the provincial cabinet gave permission to the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board to use 43 hectares of Mayapuri community forest in the buffer zone of Suklaphanta National Park, clearing the last major hurdle for the project.

Once completed, the dry port is expected to boost the Nepal-India trade and help drive industrial development in the western region.

Dodhara Chandani dry port will be the first business gateway to India from Nepal's farwest. The site is 245 km from India’s capital, New Delhi and 1,200 km from Gujarat state. Officials said the dry port will facilitate trade with other Indian states like Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Haryana. It will also provide Nepal access to India’s largest seaport, Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, enhance Nepal's foreign trade, and reduce costs.

According to Nepali officials, transporting goods to Nepal through these routes will result in substantial savings.

Most of Nepal's trade infrastructure is concentrated in the east, connecting to Kolkata port. Officials say the construction of a dry port in Sudurpaschim province may open up access to more Indian ports in the future.

The project is also expected to reduce transportation costs and shorten the time required to import goods from India.

Dodhara Chandani inland container depot will feature administrative buildings, customs office, banks, quarantine facilities, staff quarters, warehouses, and parking spaces.

As per the master plan, the depot will eventually accommodate 3,000 20-foot freight trucks, although in the first phase will provide space for 300 trucks.

The import warehouse will span 7,000 square metres, and the export warehouse will cover 2,520 square metres. The railway warehouse will be spread over 17,500 square metres, and the container stacking yard, a large open space for container movement, will cover 10,000 square metres.

In the project's second phase, 126 hectares will be developed for additional warehouses and parking areas.

A decade and a half ago, the World Bank conducted a feasibility study for the proposed dry port at Kanjabhoj in Dodhara Chandani Municipality, and the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board prepared another report in 2016.

"The cabinet has granted permission to the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board to use the land. With this approval, groundwork will begin within the next three months," said Ashish Gajurel, the board's executive director. "We will now start cutting down the trees."

He said that the national park has written to them to find land in other areas as compensation. "If we can’t find suitable land, we will have to provide cash compensation equal to the value of the land."

Gajurel said that they plan to open an office after the Dashain festival to begin work. "We will clear the site to create a working environment for the Indian side and write to them to immediately begin the tender process and other related tasks," he said.

According to the EIA, a total of 15,057 trees need to be felled. As per the Forest Clearance Guidelines, ten compensatory trees must be planted for every tree cut for development projects. Project officials say that 150,525 compensatory trees will need to be planted.

Gajurel said they need to cut down 1,700 trees immediately, which they have already marked for removal.

The dry port will be built under an Indian grant.

According to the project, the transshipment centre will be constructed in two phases, and the first phase is estimated to cost Rs8 billion. Dodhara Chandani dry port will be located on the border with India. A twin dry port will be built on the Indian side in Banbasa.

The first phase will be linked by road, while the second phase will be linked by rail. The completion deadline is three years from the start of construction.

Work has already started on a Rs3.2 billion access road on the Indian side that will connect to Dodhara Chandani. The Indian government is building the access road.

Three years ago, the government had decided to constrruct the facility in ward 1 of Chandani Municipality. However, following protests by local residents in Kanjabjoj, which is in ward 8 and was originally planned site, the project was relocated. Last year, during then-Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's visit to India, it was agreed that the facility would be built by the Indian government.

A four-lane bridge over the Mahakali River has been built, and an 8-km access road on the Nepal side between Gaddachauki and Malariya river in ward 1 of Dodhara Chandani.

The dry port is expected to boost Nepal-India trade and contribute to industrial development in the western region. According to Nepali officials, transporting goods to Nepal through these routes will result in substantial savings.