Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart K. P. Sharma Oli on May 11, 2018 jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya from the Janaki temple in Janakpur. It has been started as part of the Ramayan Circuit to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India.
Janakpur is known as the birth place of Sita, the wife of Lord Rama. Janaki temple was built in memory of Sita in 1910. The three-storied structure made entirely of stone and marble is 50-metre high and spread over 4860 sq feet. The Indian government has identified 15 destinations in India for development under the Ramayana Circuit theme namely Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar and Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik and Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka), and Rameshwaram (Tamil nadu).
Arun III Power Plant
- PM Modi and Oli jointly laid the foundation stone of the 900-megawatt Arun III Hydroelectric Power Plant in Tumlingtar area in eastern Nepal through a remote system in Kathmandu on may 11, 2018.
- Investment Board Nepal recently grant the licence to Satluj jal Vidyut Nigam Power Development Company, a subsidiary of Indian government owned Satluj jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, to generate power for the Arun-III Hydropower project, nearly 500 Km form Kathmandu.
- The Nepal government will receive denefits worth Nepali Rupees 348 billion from the projet as royalty, income tax, customs tariff and free energy in the concession period of 25 years. The project will also provide 21.9 per cent of 197 megawatts of the generated energy free of cost to Nepal.
- Two two PMs expressed hope that operationalization of the project would help enhance cooperation in the generation and trade of power between the weo countries. The two PMs welcomed the outcome of the recently concluded meeting of the Joint steering committee on cooperation in the power sector held on 17 April, 2018. They agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in power sector in line with the bilateral Power Trade Agreement.
