KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Deepak Kumar Sah, and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, held a bilateral meeting in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.

During the meeting held on the sidelines of the 31st Partnership Summit, 2026, important issues including trade, transit, industrial cooperation, investment promotion, quality certification and easy access of Nepali products to Indian market were discussed.

During the meeting, Minister Sah presented the procedural complexities, time and cost problems faced by Nepali industries in obtaining quality certification and Bureau of Indian Standards certification while entering the Indian market. He urged to make the certification process of Nepali cement, steel, plywood, shoes, yarn and other industrial products simple, easy and time-bound.

As an important achievement of the meeting, Indian Minister Goyal has expressed positive concern and readiness towards the proposal to set up a testing laboratory as per the standards of the Bureau of Indian Standards in Nepal. He also directed the concerned secretaries of his ministry to take the necessary coordination and process forward.

It is expected that the availability of international standard quality testing and certification facility in Nepal will reduce the testing cost, time and procedural hassles faced by Nepali industries while exporting to India and increase the competitiveness of Nepali products.

Similarly, discussions were held on providing additional transit facility to Indian Dhamra (Odisha) and Mundra (Gujarat) ports for Nepal, forwarding the review process of Nepal-India trade treaty and removing the additional load carrying ban on Nepali cargo vehicles along the Kakarbhitta-Phulbari-Banglabandha road.

Likewise, the issues of renewal of land as per the lease agreement of Nepal Transit and Warehousing Management Company Limited or providing alternative land at Kolkata Port were also raised.

On the occasion, the meeting also discussed the issues of review of the fees against unfair price fixation and retaliatory tariffs imposed on Nepali jute products, ensuring unhindered access of Nepali tea to the Indian market and facilitating the quality testing and certification of agricultural products.

Likewise, a proposal has been presented to the meeting to provide accreditation to the test report of Nepali food products from the qualified and accredited laboratories under the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control from the Indian body and to expand the quality testing facilities along the Nepal-India border.

Minister Sah said that mutual trust, equal treatment, quality production and smooth trade process should be given priority to further strengthen the trade relations between Nepal and India. Indian Minister Goyal expressed positive concern over the issues presented and stressed the need to take measures to resolve the issues through coordination and technical discussions among the concerned bodies.

The meeting is expected to further strengthen the economic and industrial relations between Nepal and India and contribute significantly to the competitiveness enhancement of Nepali industries, export promotion and trade facilitation. The Government of Nepal, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies will carry out necessary institutional coordination and continuous monitoring with the Indian side for the implementation of the issues raised in the discussions.