Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on Thursday unveiled an ambitious “vision paper” where he laid emphasis on infrastructure development and on creating massive employment opportunities.
The notable ones in the long list of infrastructure projects are the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, Mid-Hill Highway, a second international airport outside Kathmandu, two regional airports of international stature and the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. Power generation is also high on the PM’s agenda.
The paper talks of completing the detailed project report of the 600-MW Budhi Gandaki hydropower project and starting construction of the 750-MW West Seti project. The government has already approached the Chinese government, seeking a credit line for the development of these two projects in its efforts to address the severe power crisis facing the country.
The East-West Electricity Train, Postal Highway and North-South Highways are other infrastructure projects in the PM’s priority list.
The government said it will invite international investors to develop the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, a second international airport and the East-West Electric Train through the Build-Operate-Own and Transfer model. According to the action plan, the track opening of the Fast Track and the Mid-Hill Highway will be completed within this fiscal year.
The 55-page “Immediate Action Plan for Economic Development and Prosperity” also envisions creating 677,000 new jobs in 17 areas. The government has targeted generating 150,000 new jobs in the agriculture sector and 50,000 each in the tourism, energy and foreign employment sectors.
The plan, according to premier aims at higher economic growth, increased investment and creating employment opportunities within the current budget structure. Hence, most of the programmes mentioned in the action plan are those that have already been announced in the current fiscal year’s budget. “We have mainly focused on economic growth, national priority projects, employment generation and social security,” Bhattarai said.
As the government has already announced the next fiscal year as "Nepal Investment Year", the action plan has an ambitious target of attracting US$1 billion in foreign direct investment in the next six months.
The recently-formed Investment Board has been entrusted with this responsibility. Along with high priority to power generation, the plan talks of adjustment in the electricity tariff and unbundling of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). “Separate agencies for electricity generation, transmission and distribution will be formed by restructuring the NEA,” the action plan states.
The plan is, however, not clear on how and from where resources required for the implementation of these ambitious projects will come.
"The resources can be managed through the current budget, while for new programmes, alternative means can be adopted,” the plan states.
The whole exercise of unveiling the action plan was led by the Prime Minister’s Office and the PM’s Economic Advisory Council. The private sector welcomed the plan, but remained sceptical over its implementation, given the state of the bureaucracy.
"The Prime Minister’s commitment is clear, but the ministries concerned and the bureaucracy must step up,” said Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries President Suraj Vaidya.
The vision
• Notable ones in the list of projects are Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, Mid-Hill Highway, a second international airport outside Kathmandu, two regional airports of international stature and the Melamchi Drinking Water Project
• Power generation
• International investors to develop Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track, a second international airport and the East-West Electric Train
• Action Plan also envisions creating 677,000 new jobs in 17 area
