Representatives of India’s Konkan Railway Corporation Limited are scheduled to visit Nepal to discuss the Final Location Survey of the proposed cross-border Raxaul-Kathmandu railway that the corporation had prepared in late January, Nepali officials said.

The corporation had presented the draft of the final location survey, which is similar to a detailed project report, to Nepal in June for its review.

The finalisation of this report is crucial to determining whether to go ahead with the project based on technical feasibility and financial viability.

Many analysts consider the proposed railway connecting the Indian border town of Raxaul and Nepal’s capital and China’s efforts to connect Nepal with Kerung-Kathmandu Railway as the two rivals’ efforts to bring the Himalayan country within their respective orbits of influence.

“We studied the report and reviewed it,” said Keshav Kumar Sharma, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. “We have made some recommendations. The report will be finalised by accommodating our suggestions.”

Citing the final location survey, Nepali officials said that the proposed railway will have a length of 141-km with 41km being a tunnel.

The railway has been designed to operate at a speed of 120km per hour.

Director General at the Department of Railway Rohit Bisural said the construction cost of the project would be INR2.39 billion (Rs3.82 billion) without the cost of land acquisition.

Nepali officials said that Konkan Railway would be sending its team of experts who were involved in preparing the final location survey. “They are sending the experts as per our request as we want clarifications on the technical details mentioned in the final location survey,” said Umesh Bindu Shrestha, spokesman at the physical infrastructure ministry.

He said that the government was concerned about the high cost mentioned in the report. “We will ask them if the cost can be reduced,” said Shrestha. “We will also explore the possibility of reducing the length.”

The proposed railway line will start from Raxaul and pass through Jitpur, Nijgadh, Sikharpur, Sisneri and Sathikhel before reaching Chobhar in southern Kathmandu. After taking inputs from Nepal, the Indian company is expected to finalise the report.

The final location survey of the proposed project was, however, carried out with grant assistance from the Indian government. After China took steps to study the Kerung-Kathmandu cross-border railway, the southern neighbour also sought to build a cross-border railway that would connect the Indian border town of Raxaul with the Nepali capital.

In August 2018, Nepal and India signed a memorandum of understanding for a preliminary engineering cum traffic survey for the rail link. Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. was entrusted to conduct a preliminary survey.

In October 2021, the two countries signed another MoU with India to prepare the final location survey during the Fifth Joint Working Group and the 7th Project Steering Committee meetings in New Delhi.

So far, India is a step ahead of China with the southern neighbour already preparing the final location survey while the Chinese team has been conducting field study to prepare a detailed feasibility study.

As a part of the long-delayed detailed feasibility study, the task of an aerial survey of the proposed Kerung-Kathmandu Railway was conducted a few days ago, according to the railway department.

The Chinese technical team has been undertaking a detailed feasibility study, which is supposed to be completed within 42 months. China has approved a grant assistance of RMB 180 million (Rs3.35 billion) for the purpose, according to the department.

With the Indian side already preparing the final location survey, finalisation of the report will pave the way for construction of the Raxaul-Kathmandu railroad project, Nepali officials said.

“Based on the final report of the final location survey, Nepal will have to make a decision on whether to go ahead with the project,” said Secretary Sharma. “Funding modality and how India could help build the project will be discussed once Nepal decides to implement the project.”