Pristine Valley bags contract to operate Birgunj ICD

 Pristine Valley Dryport Pvt Ltd has been awarded the contract to manage and operate the Inland Clearance Depot (ICD) at Sirsiya in Birgunj district. Since the inception, the port has been managed and handled by Indian government entity CONCOR through its local counterpart Himalayan Terminals Pvt Ltd. The new management has taken over the operation and management of the dryport at the special function organised within the port premises at Sirsiya in Birgunj today.

“In the 16 years of establishment and operation of the dryport, the management of the dry port has been transferred to a fully private venture for the first time, according to director of Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board – the regulatory authority of Dryports in Nepal – HM Shahi.

“We are hopeful that the trade will benefit with this new development that has taken place in Nepal’s only rail linked terminal which handles more than 50 per cent of containerised traffic of the country,” he said.

Birgunj Inland Dry Port was constructed between 2000 and 2004 AD, and came into operation to facilitate trade. Established in 38 hectares property, the port has the storage capacity to manage over 4,500 containers and is rail linked with Raxaul in India connecting to harbours in Kolkata and Vishakapatnam via Indian Railways network.

Indian stakeholder of Pristine Valley Dry Port, ‘Pristine Mega Logistics Pvt Ltd’ and its network is managing ICDs in Ludhiana, Kanpur, Siliguri and Patna in India through its own 35 Container railways. The company has over 10 years for intensive experience in managing and handling ICDs in india and have entered the International market for the first time, according to a press note of the company. Nepali counterpart ‘Valley Terminals’ is a sister company of ‘Valley Group’, which works in the logistic sector, the press note reads, adding that Valley group – established 40 years ago – is a business conglomerate with diversified business including in poultry and related products, fast food, automobile, construction material manufacture, Information Technology (IT), and Infrastructure.

The directors of the Terminal Management Company, Pristine Valley Dryport Private Limited Rajnish Kumar and Baburaja Rawal mentioned that they want to use this venture to bring transformation and change in customer experience through efficiency upgradation and capacity building at the dryport. 

“The management transfer occurred during the pandemic of ‘Covid 19’ and the company will face piles of challenges with no definite date for this pandemic to end in upcoming days,” director of the Nepali counterpart company of the venture Madhav Baral said, adding that the port is only handling 35 per cent of its total capacity since the wide spread of Coronavirus, further down trend on export and import will continue. “The group will work on expansion of the port by attracting the road networked imports and export to the dry port and improving the existing in-country transportation services.”

The Management Team also mentioned that they are confident to implement Pristine’s experience and knowledge in Birgunj ICD to enhance the services and to expand the existing capacity of the port and that the venture will take a new height in the upcoming days.

Visakhapatnam could be alternative port for third country trade for Nepal

The Railway Service Agreement (ASA) and bilateral transit treaty between Nepal and India need to address the early usage of Visakhapatnam Port by Nepal as it could serve as an additional and alternative port for third country trade.

“Visakhapatnam Port could be additional and alternative port to Nepal for its third country trade but Nepal-India Transit Treaty and Railway Service Agreement should address it for smooth operation of the route from Visakhapatnam in India to Birgunj in Nepal,” according to former commerce secretary Purushottam Ojha.

Though, in 2009, the Indian government had approved Visakhapatnam Port as a second shipment point for handling container cargo from Nepal, the two governments are yet to exchange Letter of Credit for its implementation, he said, during Nepal-India Business Conclave on ‘Visakhapatnam Port: Additional Gateway for Nepal’s Export-Import Traffic’, here today.

Currently Nepal is using Kolkata Port for its third country trade.
As Nepal’s trade volume has seen increment in recent years, the governments of Nepal and India should address the port’s early usages in the bilateral trade treaty, according to chief operating officer of Visakha Container Terminal — the operator of Visakhapatnam Port – Sushil Mulchandani.

Though, Nepal had asked India to provide access to five more trade and transit routes between Vishakapatnam Port and four major customs points, rail route between Birgunj dry port and Vishakapatnam, and Rohanpur-Singhabad-Jogbani and Phulbari-Banglabandha routes, during the renewal of Nepal-India Transit Treaty last year, the treaty was renewed without any changes making Nepal impossible to use Vishakapatnam Port for the time being.

Opening of Visakhapatnam Port – that is 700-km far away from the Kolkata Port – would give Nepal an alternative trade route as the overall cost could not much differ, according to him.

“It would be, however, more feasible for Nepali exporters and importers as India's second largest port by volume of cargo handled, Visakhapatnam Port is more efficient, ultra modern, fully computerised in handling the container and non-containerised vessels,” Mulchandani said, claiming that Nepali traders could also check the status of their containers inside the port from Nepal by visiting the company's website.

The cost will not exceed compared to Kolkata Port as they will save Ocean Freight time, and Visakhapatnam Port is nearer to China – one of Nepal’s largest trading partners – and the US, he added. “Visakhapatnam Port is congestion free and follows scheduled shipment that will also save cost.”
Inviting Nepali traders to visit the port, he also claimed that his company could help arrange road and rail transportation up to the Nepal’s border from Andra Pradesh, where the Visakhapatnam Port is.

Currently, Nepal bound vessels, if starts from China are shipped via Singapore, to Visakhapatnam Port, and then to Kolkata Port in filler vessels from where it is routed to Birgunj Inland Container Depot (ICD), which takes more Ocean Freight time. But the containers could be routed to Birgunj ICD directly from Visakhapatnam Port saving the ocean freight time, Mulchandani suggested.

However, the traders and freight forwarders were of the view that the Birgunj ICD also needs to be upgraded and automated, apart from a special container railway from Visakhapatnam Port to the Birgunj ICD to take maximum benefit from the port. “Birgunj ICD needs to be automated and linked to Visakhapatnam Port for the smooth trade,” said Nepal Freight Forwarders Association president Rajan Sharma, on the occasion.