The Cabinet Monday decided to sign a bilateral railway agreement with India immediately. The decision follows pressure from World Bank for an early operation of the Birgunj-based Inland Container Depot (ICD), a report said Tuesday.

“It is now likely that Indian proposal to operate the railway connecting Birgunj’s ICD as per the Indian Railway Act will be accepted, until a mutually agreed Act is formulated by Nepal,” a news report in The Kathmandu Post said.

Earlier governments were reluctant to accept the Indian Act. “The present government reviewed its stance after the World Bank announced that it would pull out of the multi-million dollar project if the government failed to bring ICD into operation before its expiry,” said the report.

“The project expires this month.”

The ICD project was launched in 1998 with an aim to construct three dry ports in major customs zones of Nepal to facilitate third-country trade and transit, the report added. Two dry ports in Bhairahawa and Biratnagar are already functional. nepalnews.com mr Sept 23