The post World Bank Aid to Nepal: Another USD 133 Mn for Transport Infra appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>This time the credit is focused on the development of country’s road & transport infrastructure.
“The World Bank today approved a USD 133 million credit to help Nepal construct and maintain safe, resilient and cost-effective bridges on its Strategic Roads Network,” read a statement from WB’s official release on September 26, 2018.
The fund will support Nepal on its ‘Strategic Roads Network of Nepal’ that envisages the development of Nepal’s transport infrastructure i.e., roughly 12,142 km of national highways, feeder roads and other roads of national importance connected by 1,773 bridges.
Under the ‘Second Bridges Improvement and Maintenance Program (BIMP-II)’ that is looking at connectivity and provincial development to spur economic growth, the new fund targets:
- Support nearly 477 bridges across the country in different ways
- Maintenance support to nearly 90 bridges
- Upgrading road safety measures on nearly 180 existing bridges
- Construction, rehabilitation or replacement of approximately 80 new two-lane bridges and 35 four-lane bridges
- Help Nepal’s Department of Roads in completing the construction of 92 bridges
“Nepal needs a strong bridge network and even stronger institutions to manage and develop that network into the future. BIMP II aims at supporting both the network’s physical development as well as the government systems that manage it,” says Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Manager for Nepal.
Faris hopes that the proposed developments would enhance the country’s crucial road network leading to increased and easy connectivity to the local populace, while saving time and costs associated with transport and trade.
BIIMP-II comes as a predecessor to BIIMP-1, the first-such global initiative that offers needed boost to the Program for Results (P4R) financing instrument to effective fund utilization for verifiable results.
“The operation also has a strong focus on climate resilience, gender inclusion and innovative technologies,” says Dominic Pasquale Patella, Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank and Co-Task Team Leader of the Operation
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]]>The post Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19: Infrastructure Gets Major Push! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Let’s have a glance at some of the key sectors that received major infrastructure push in the new budget:
Energy
With energy sector on top priority, the government allocated Rs 83.39 billion for enhancing the country’s energy infrastructure alone in the coming fiscal.
With a target of equipping all the households with modern energy within three years and further with sufficient energy supply within five years, the government plans to call 2019-2029 as the ‘Energy Decade’.
The budget also envisages construction of multipurpose hydropower projects across all provinces and begin construction of the same within two years period. The government is also planning to construct a 3,000-MW capacitive hydropower project with the combined investment of government, public and remittance funds.
There are also plans to develop a good number of micro-hydro projects and biogas plants to electrify the rural areas of the country.
Transport
Transport is another area that received a major boost in the present budget with an allocation of Rs 109.38 billion.
Some of the high-profile projects include cable car and monorail projects in Kathmandu, construction of the East-west railway line, Kathmandu-Nijgadh Expressway, Postal Highway, Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway and link roads connecting all the districts touching the southern border to the Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway, among others.
The new budget also envisages construction of new airports across the country.
The government has allocated a budget of Rs 1.43 billion for the transportation management system and is also developing relevant government agencies in all the provinces.
Tourism
Tourism is one sector that is of high significance for Nepal. The new budget has Rs 5.20 billion allocated for the overall development of Nepali tourism sector.
While the country reached 1 million target at the end of 2017, the new budget envisages a 2 million annual tourist arrival target by the end of 2020. Strengthening the domestic tourism to drive in more tourist inflow, the government is planning to develop 100 new tourist destinations and diversify tourist services across the country.
The government also has plans to develop the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism by mobilizing the country’s foreign missions. To facilitate ways for tourist arrivals, more number of airports are also being planned at various tourist destinations of the country.
Towards getting academic support, the government is also aiming at the conversion of the Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) into a deemed university.
Other key areas that received due attention for overall infrastructure development include:
- Economic Affairs- Rs 483.14 billion
- General Public Service – Rs 396.74 billion
- Housing & Community Amenities – Rs 66.57 billion
- Public Order & Security – Rs 47.50 billion
- Social Protection – Rs 46.91 billion
- Defense – Rs 44.93 billion
- Environment Protection – Rs 22.72 billion
- Recreation, Culture & Religion – Rs 7.10 billion
Overall, the new budget paid due attention to the infrastructure development across the country as a key to achieve the economic growth.
Next: Budget Gets Mixed Response
Related Article:
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]]>The post Dr Ek Raj Ojha appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
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Interview by Sai Nikesh D
Nepal has come a long way in development. As a nation sharing borders with the world’s two major economies, Nepal has been striving to become a developing country and grow further to achieve the developed country status. As a process, the Government of Nepal has been actively participating in various global and local level platforms promoting country’s strengths and potential to development, and is sincerely aiming to see the benefits as part of its UN 2030 Agenda.
Continuing with a wide coverage on Nepal and its developments over a period, Nepali Sansar, as a Nepal-focused media house, got a chance to get in touch with Dr.Ek Raj Ojha, Senior Sustainable Development Consultant from Nepal, for a better understanding of the country’s progress towards its set goals.
Dr. Ojha, with his sound expertise in working with national and international level organizations like ADB, UN and government departments in sustainable development and planning, policy framework, among other key aspects of development and planning, shared a valuable information in this regard, helping us portray a complete picture of Nepal and its developmental path over a period and towards future.
Following are a few excerpts of Nepali Sansar Bureau’s detailed interaction with Dr. Ojha:
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