There is an agreement to decide on tax exemptions for all goods imported from China, starting from construction materials. The Ministry has clarified that the decision on tax exemptions received from the Roads Department will be taken to the Council of Ministers soon after the process is completed.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
Even though the design of the second section of the Ring Road expansion has been finalized, the construction work has not yet progressed. The Nepal government has not taken a decision on tax exemption, so the further process has not progressed. ‘The design has been finalized, there is no problem with it,’ said a source from the Road Department, ‘The further process could not progress due to the delay in the decision on tax exemption. As soon as this decision is made, the Chinese side will select a construction company and get to work.’
The decision on tax exemption has to be made by the Council of Ministers, so it has been sent to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, said Arjun Prasad Aryal, Deputy Director General of the Road Department. ‘According to the agreement, a decision should be made on tax exemption for all goods imported from China, starting from construction materials,’ he said. ‘The work of upgrading the Syafrubensi-Rasuwagadhi road and expanding the second section of the ring road will be done with a grant from the Chinese government.’ As per the foreign aid policy, the grant amount is not used for tax purposes, so the ministry has been sent to make a decision accordingly.’
The issue of tax was mentioned when the implementation agreement was signed between the officials of the two countries. After the Ministry of Finance suggested taking the matter to the Council of Ministers, the department has sent it to the Development Assistance Coordination and Quality Division of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport to make a decision accordingly. ‘When the proposal was first sent to the Ministry of Finance, it was suggested that a decision should be made by the Council of Ministers, otherwise it would be decided to include it in the budget and grant exemption,’ he said, ‘That is why the ministry should get it approved by the secretary and minister and take it to the Council of Ministers. After a decision is made from there, it will be implemented.’
Sushilbabu Dhakal, head of the Development Assistance Coordination and Quality Division of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, said that the Chinese side has demanded tax exemption on construction materials used in projects built under grants and goods coming from China. ‘The same has been done on roads built under grants before, the Koteshwor-Kalanki section was also built in this way with China’s grant,’ he said, ‘The Syafrubensi-Rasuwagadhi road is also going to be built under grants, and a decision on tax exemption has already been made.’ He said that the decision on tax exemption from the Road Department will be taken to the Council of Ministers soon after the process is completed.
A Chinese technical team came to Nepal on April 6 to survey the second section of the Ring Road. The team had conducted the survey work for the design in two and a half months. The department has stated that although the survey work was done for a distance of 8.2 kilometers, the distance will not reach the Vasundhara culvert. The road expansion work will be done only near Vasundhara Chowk. The remaining section will be done by the Nepal government itself.
As per the design, a concrete bridge will be built on the Dhungedhara stream. Three sky bridges will be made disabled-friendly. A sky bridge will be built between Sitapaila, Balaju and Machhapokhari and between Samakhusi Vasundhara Police Station. The department has stated that the street lights from Kalanki to Vasundhara Chowk have been designed to be built by China during the road expansion.
The survey work was done by Chinese government companies CCCC First Highway Consultants and Xi'an Fangzhou Engineering Consulting. Currently, there are four lanes from Kalanki to Sitapaila and two lanes from Sitapaila to the ring road. Now, when the road is expanded, it will be eight lanes, excluding the service lane.
On 6 Bhadra, a letter of cooperation was signed between representatives of the governments of Nepal and China. But even after more than 7 years of discussions, the work has not yet gained momentum. The work on the first section of Koteshwor-Kalanki started in 2069 and was completed in 2075. A G2G agreement was signed with China in 2018 to expand from Kalanki to Vasundhara.
