Nepal Purwadhar Bikas Company (NPBC) has said that it will start the
civil work of the Kathmandu-Hetauda Tunnel Highway immediately after the
rainy season. The company which was set up to build the much talked
about tunnel highway is currently busy putting together the necessary
equipment and other resources.NPBC received the government’s go-ahead about three months ago, however, it is yet to begin work on the tunnel project. “We are preparing to start construction as soon as the weather turns favourable,” said Kush Kumar Joshi, president of NPBC, addressing an interaction programme on Wednesday.
Joshi added that they were busy carrying out campaigns to attract investment in the project and buying equipment required for the construction. The 58-km highway project, estimated to cost around Rs 35 billion, will link the capital with the southern industrial city of Hetauda. The expressway will cut travel time to one hour. It is the biggest road project that the private sector is developing under the build-operate-own-transfer (BOOT) modality.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Chhabiraj Pant has asked NPBC to complete the project within the target period of four years and win trust for conducting such other projects in the future. “It could be a pilot project for developing projects utilising local resources,” he added.
The tunnel highway project is being executed under the private, public and people’s partnership (4Ps) model based on the Private Financing in Build and Operation of Infrastructure Act 2006 (BOOT Act). As per the agreement reached with the government, NPBC will have to present the financial closure within a year to assure the government that it has the resources required to construct the highway.
Speaking at the programme, Chiranjibi Nepal, advisor to the Ministry of Finance, said that the government was ready to provide any type of support to make the project a success as it was a national pride project. “At a time when a majority of the road projects are being built with foreign assistance, this type of project encourages infrastructure development with local resources,” he added.
Meanwhile, other participants in the programme underlined the need for political commitment and some changes in the existing BOOT law for successful implementation of the project . “The act has fixed a 30-year period for construction and operation, but this type of time restriction should vary depending on the investment and the nature of the project,” said Lal Krishna KC, vice-president of NPBC.
NPBC has received investment commitments from commercial banks, non-resident Nepalis and the Prabhu Group. The company plans to sign an agreement with IME Nepal to invest remittances in the project. Around 200,000 members of the general public and a number of institutions including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Federation of Contractors Associations of Nepal, banks and financial institutions, Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies and local government bodies of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Makwanpur will invest in the highway, according to NPBC.
Src Kathmandu Post
