Date:27/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/03/27/stories/2006032700600600.htm

Back Concor rake for Nepal

Our Bureau

Container Corporation of India (Concor), so far transporting between Kolkata port and Nepal's inland container depot (ICD) at Birganj only third country traffic in containers (that is, Nepal's imports and exports in containers in respect of countries other than India but routed through Kolkata port), recently handled for the first time a slice of the bilateral trade in containers. A rake carrying 70 containers with polyester fibre moved from Concor's Nagpur ICD to Nepal's Birganj ICD. The exporter from India was Indo Rama Synthetics (India) Ltd and the importers in Nepal were Reliance Spinning, Jyoti Spinning and Triveni Spnning. The journey was completed in five days. It could have been completed in four days but for "some mess up by the railways in transit". However, the containers used by Concor were not exim type but domestic boxes which are being placed at the consignees' doorstep. Since there is no traffic available for the return journey, the boxes will come back as empties. The Customs clearance was done at Raxaul, the last Indian station on the India-Nepal border. Though the second rake is not yet ready for immediate run on the route, some sponge iron traffic is likely to move in not-too-distant future from Rourkela to Birganj ICD, though in BCN wagons, not in containers.