New dry port to repurpose Himal Cement land

Part of the land formerly occupied by the now closed Himal Cement plant in Nepal has been purchased as part of a new government development to build a dry port in Chobhar.

A government agency called the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB) has awarded contracts for the new US$22m development that will be completed by the end of January 2020. The government acquired 53ha of land belonging to the closed Himal Cement and 10ha of unoccupied land for the project.

The development is already behind schedule as it took a long time to transfer the landownership to the Ministry of Industry. The Department of Forest had handed over portions of Himal Cement property that had been covered in forest to the community forest and locals had encroached on the land since the closure of the factory.