Patna: The Bihar-Nepal bus service - Bharat Nepal Maitri Bus Seva - will be launched in the last week of September of first week of October.

After two meetings, attended by Bihar government officers, one in Kathmandu and another in New Delhi, an agreement has been arrived at between Nepal, the ministry of external affairs and Bihar.

The air conditioned deluxe bus service will be available from Bodhgaya to Kathmandu and Patna to Janakpur. The exact start date or fares have not been fixed yet.

"On February 23, a meeting of the joint working group (JWG) took place in Kathmandu where I was representing the Bihar government," transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal told The Telegraph. "Officers of the ministry of external affairs and Nepal transport department were present. Another JWG meeting took place in Delhi recently."

At present there is no direct bus from Bihar to Nepal and this would be a boon, especially for Buddhist tourists between these two places. "The bus service is called Bharat Nepal Maitri Bus Seva. One has to travel 18 hours to reach Kathmandu because the bus will go via Patna. Every day three buses will ply on these two routes," Agarwal said.

On May 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli had jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya.

The bus service was inaugurated as part of the Ramayana Circuit. Modi flagged off the bus after visiting the famed 20th century Janaki temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Sita, where he offered prayers.

India has identified 15 destinations for development under Ramayana.