On the 5th of April, 2022 – a significant milestone was set for Nepal Customs, Business Houses, SMEs, Transporters, Custom Agents, etc. with the inauguration of the Chobar Dryport Customs. Honourable Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was the Chief Guest for the event and was the primary facilitator for the cutting of the ribbon for the ceremony. The first container that entered the DryPort Customs contained goods of Generation Next Communication Pvt. Ltd. (Genxt), and it was brought and cleared by Flash Freight Logistics Pvt. Ltd. There were subsequently 2 other containers also brought in by Flash.
Apart from the speech from The PM, Minister Janardhan Sharma also spoke to represent the Ministry of Finance, DG for Customs Kamal Bhattarai and Mr Ganesh Pandey. Several speeches from notable people across Nepal represented their organisations or entities such as FNCCI, Chamber, Kirtipur Municipality, etc.
This DryPort is situated in the previous location of Himal Cement (which shut down in 2002) and is an ideal location for having shipments for Import and Export close to the capital of Kathmandu. It is the first dry port within the borders of Nepal.
It is easily reachable however, the road infrastructure will need development over the coming times to accommodate for the increased traffic and congestion that will arise due to the shipments. Although a railway connecting Raxaul or any other Indian Port would be ideal, the idea is not yet planned due to high infrastructure costs. However, Prime Minister Deuba stated that he is interested in whether Nepal gets suitable funding either as donations or as loans at minimal interest rates.
Bhimsaria Group’s Involvement
Bhimsaria Group has two companies directly involved with the inauguration of this Dry port Customs office. Firstly, it is Genxt (Generation Next Communication Pvt. Ltd.) – the authorised distributor for Apple, Dell, and HP for Nepal (and other brands in many more countries) – whose container was the first to be brought into the premises of this office. The Logistics Partner was Flash Freight, who handled the shipment seamlessly outbound from Malaysia to Nepal.
Secondly, Transecure Telematics was also involved in the ECTS Tracking of the shipment from Kolkata to Nepal’s Borders. Transecure is the sole service provider for Electronic Cargo Tracking Systems for Railway Shipments from Kolkata (CCU Port) and Vishakapatnam (Vizag Port) to Nepal. We are in the works to further strengthen the relations between Nepal Customs and Transecure to increase Cargo Tracking Surveillance to a Door-to-Door Facility.
