Tunnel road to attract over 250,000 investors
KATHMANDU, JAN 24:
The Kathmandu-Hetauda tunnel road — the first venture based on Public Private and People Partnership model — is expected to attract more than 250‚000 investors from across the country. The project budget is estimated at around Rs 20 billion.
Nepal Purbadhar Bikash Company (NPBC) wants maximum participation of people and enterprises in the project‚ said chairman of the company Kush Kumar Joshi while briefing on the financial plan of the mega project.
“We have got commitment from organised sectors to invest in the project‚” he said‚ adding that Non-Resident Nepali Association and its chapters‚ Hotel Association Nepal‚ Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies and others have committed to invest at the instructional level. “Locals residing along the tunnel road are also interested‚” he said‚ “They will invest from between Rs 10‚000 to Rs one million according to their investment capacity.”
The tunnel road which is 50 km in length will shorten the distance between Kathmandu and Hetauda significantly. Currently‚ Hetauda is linked with Kathmandu by two highways — one 227 km and the other 133 km. The aerial distance between Hetauda and Kathmandu is only 37 km.
The proposed tunnel way has three tunnels and 25 bridges stretching about 4.5 km and 1.9 km‚ respectively. NPBC submitted the Detail Project Report (DPR) to the government in November‚ 2012 but no decision has yet been taken on it.
“The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works is examining the report. We hope the ministry will grant permission to construct it soon‚” said vice chairman and chief of technical team of the company Lalkrishna KC.
According to him‚ the project is technically feasible and the Nepali company has the capacity to construct it. “NPBC will start to open the tunnel road from December 2016‚ if we get permission to begin construction in the next two weeks‚” he said. The ministry and NPBC are discussing on the BOOT period‚ toll tax and its sustainability at the moment.
The company has asked the government to extend the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) period to at least 39 years but no calculation on toll tax has been done yet. Meanwhile‚ we are designing tunnel structures‚ road safety measures and preparing for field work‚ said KC.
Currently‚ Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal (FCAN) — the umbrella organisation of over 17‚000 contractors in Nepal — has been building a roster of its members to work in the project and complete it on time.
FCAN will be the principal contractor and sub-contracts will be given to others according to their technical expertise‚ said member of the federation Ravi Singh. Foreign contractors will also be invited as sub-contractors when needed‚ he added.
Source: THT
