The criteria state that initial allocation and total cost limits will not apply to work related to the construction of motorable and suspension bridges.
What you should know
With the implementation of the Multi-Year Project Resource Agreement Standards, 2082, various ministries and subordinate bodies have started moving forward with projects of national pride and priority.
The Ministry of Finance has started seeking source consent for major projects to be implemented in the current fiscal year, with the implementation of the criteria for source consent for multi-year projects on 13 Poush.
Finance has asked to submit details entered in the National Project Bank Management Information System and approved by the National Planning Commission. As per the criteria, the environmental study report of the approved project entered in the Ministry-level Budget Information System (LMBIS) and in the case of procurement other than the design and build mode of contract (Design and Built Mode of Contract) will have to be submitted to obtain source consent.
The Ministry of Finance will grant source consent for multi-year projects as per the criteria, said Tanka Prasad Pandey, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance. ‘This criterion will grant multi-year consent only for prestigious and large projects. Clear criteria have been made to prevent misuse by converting all projects to multi-year,’ he said. ‘A threshold has also been set in it, and preparations are underway to grant source consent only to projects in the project bank.’
While submitting a multi-year project proposal, source consent will have to be sought only for projects included in the National Project Bank and the Medium-Term Expenditure Structure and with a total estimated cost of more than Rs 500 million. In government building construction or service procurement projects, the cost estimate should be more than Rs 200 million.
There is a criterion that at least one-fourth of the total estimated cost of the project should be allocated while proposing source consent. It is stated that while recommending source consent for a multi-year project, the recommendation should not exceed four times the initial allocation of the project.
‘However, the initial allocation and total cost limit will not be applicable to the construction of motorable and suspension bridges,’ the criteria state, ‘Such a limit will not be applicable to the new expenditure heading of disaster or epidemic management and post-disaster reconstruction work.’ Subject to the criteria, the period of source consent granted will be a maximum of three years. If the contract period exceeds three fiscal years based on the nature and cost of the project and the project of national pride, it will be accordingly.
‘In the case of foreign aid projects, the relevant agency will not require resource consent to proceed with the multi-year procurement process within the limits of the aid amount mentioned in the agreement and the share to be borne by the Government of Nepal,’ the criteria state, ‘The share to be borne by the Government of Nepal in such projects shall be included in the medium-term expenditure structure by the relevant ministry or agency.’ If the procurement process is not proceeded with within the fiscal year in which the resource consent for the implementation of the project or program is received from the Ministry of Finance, such resource consent will automatically become invalid.
Mitra Baral, Director General of the Department of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, said that projects of national pride are already multi-year and are updated every year. ‘There are no new projects that require multi-year consent this time,’ he said, ‘The resource consent and multi-year master plan of the pride projects have already been approved. We are in the process of updating and sending those projects this year.’ Under the department, Sunkoshi Marine Diversion Multipurpose, Babai Irrigation, Sikta Irrigation, Mahakali Irrigation, Rani Jamara Kulariya and Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose have been kept as projects of national pride.
Director General of the Urban Development and Building Construction Department, Rabindra Bohara, said that a request for source consent for some projects was sent even before the criteria came from the finance department. He said that the projects included in the annual budget and included in the decision to stop on 5 Asoj will be released and implemented. ‘Projects that are not included in the project bank and have not been prepared in advance have been stopped,’ he said, ‘We have sent the information about the projects that have been stopped in this way to all 25 offices under the department. But there are only a few projects that have been prepared in advance. Now, we have selected and sent funds for the release of 573 projects.’ He said that the budget of which is 17 billion rupees.
The North-South Corridor Road has been given top priority under the Gaurav projects in the upcoming budget, said Shyam Bahadur Khadka, Deputy Director General and Spokesperson of the Road Department. Accordingly, the Koshi, Kaligandaki and Karnali corridors are included.
