On the Rupaidiha border in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh’s first land port has been developed and is ready to receive tourists and truckers. It is the first land port in the state along the international border between India and Nepal, located at a distance of about 185 km from the capital city of Lucknow.
The Bahraich land port covers an area of 115 acres, and a cost of Rs 206 crore was incurred to develop it. The land ports on both sides of the border are connected to national highway 927 by a 2.2 km long feeder path.
The integrated checkpoint’s opening date, which aims to encourage cross-border trade with Nepal, is being planned in accordance with the schedules of the two prime ministers. It’s anticipated that the facility will launch virtually. All regulatory and support functions will be housed under one roof at the land port. In 2003, the notion of constructing land ports at congested border crossings was initially raised.
Once the facility is up and running, the coordination between the agencies of the two nations will improve, leading to a swift resolution of the requests of the truckers, carriers, and tourists.
“The land ports on both the sides of the border (India and Nepal) are ready. Cross-border movement of individuals, motor vehicles and goods shall go up substantially as the turnaround time to process the applications will come down”, said Aditya Mishra, Chairman of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI).
The Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board will run the facility in Nepalgunj, and LPAI will be in charge of managing the operation of the port on the Indian side. According to the directorate general of commercial intelligence and statistics, the Rupaidiha border permits yearly trade worth Rs 8,500 crore between the two countries, with exports making up 95% of the trade value.
The volume of trade is anticipated to increase dramatically as the number of trucks passing through the land port each day is predicted to increase from the present 200 to at least 300.
According to officials, the said route is used annually by roughly 225 foreign passengers in addition to citizens of India and Nepal.
Last year on November 20, the authorities announced the construction of another land pot at Sonauli in the Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh. The construction started a few months back in February on the allocated 120 acres. This port is extremely significant as it is an important exit point in the Buddhist circuit and is close to popular Buddhist tourist centres such as Lumbini, i.e. birthplace of Gautam Buddha in Nepal.
