KATHMANDU, NOV 25 -The government formed a technical committee on Sunday to study ways to pump life into the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Project that became moribund after it was abandoned by potential international bidders.
With uncertainty hovering over the highly prioritized project after three Indian companies short listed to submit requests for proposal (RFP) walked away, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) set up a five-member team under the coordination of the ministry secretary Tulasi Prasad Sitaula in a bid to revive the non-starter. A high-level ministry official said that the panel would have to come up with ideas for the implementation and financing for the expressway which will link the capital with the southern plains. The 76-km highway is estimated to cost Rs 100 billion, which is equivalent to almost 20 percent of the annual national budget.
“Minister Chhabi Raj Pant has approved the proposal to form a technical committee for the Fast Track Project,” said the official. About two months ago, the project had approached the ministry with a plan to form the committee to keep it alive after the Indian firms lost interest.
The fate of the proposed high-speed highway, which will link Kathmandu with another top priority and long-standing project, the anticipated Second International Airport in Nijgadh, Bara, has been thrown into doubt since then. The three Indian firms short listed to submit RFPs are Reliance Infrastructure, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and Larsen and Turbo (L&T).
Secretary Sitaula said that the committee would come up with alternatives for implementation of the project. “Based on the suggestions offered by the technical committee, the project’s steering committee headed by the Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport will reach a decision regarding the project,” he added.
The ministry is yet to pick the members. Sitaula said that they were considering different options to build the road with internal resources. He added that they would submit the report before a new government is formed to reach an appropriate decision to build the expressway.
The technical panel is being formed as per a provision of the Private Financing in Build and Operation of Infrastructures 2006, known as the BOOT Act. The act says that the government shall constitute a technical committee comprising a maximum of five members including an expert in the concerned subject under the chairpersonship of the secretary at the concerned ministry to give suggestions to the government in respect of the project’s implementation.
Meanwhile, the Fast Track Project is preparing to start land acquisition for the alignment of the section of the road falling in the Kathmandu valley. “We published a public notice last month for land acquisition for alignments falling in village development committees including Chhaimale,” said Ananta Acharya, project chief. He said Rs 400 million has been provided to the Kathmandu District Administration Offi-ce for land acquisition from the last fiscal year’s budget.
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