National Pride Projects crawl despite billions in spending
Summary
Nepal’s national pride projects are progressing slowly despite billions of rupees in spending, with only three of more than two dozen projects completed. Major works including irrigation, road, railway and energy projects continue to face delays, cost overruns and implementation bottlenecks.
Key Points
- Only three national pride projects have been completed so far: Upper Tamakoshi, Pokhara International Airport and Gautam Buddha International Airport.
- The National Planning Commission says the projects have averaged just 2.96 percent annual physical progress.
- Large projects such as the Babai Irrigation Project, East West Electric Railway and Budhigandaki hydropower project remain far behind schedule despite heavy spending.
- Delays are being blamed on land acquisition problems, weak contract management, technical issues, funding gaps and poor inter-agency coordination.
