Now, after the project implementation agreement with the Chinese side and design approval, the process of selecting a construction company and consulting company will begin.
What you should know
The government has decided to exempt construction materials and goods from customs duties, paving the way for the expansion of the second section of the Ring Road. The decision to exempt taxes on the expansion of the second section of the Ring Road was made at a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, Urban Development Minister Kumar Ingnam said. He informed that the work on the Ring Road expansion will now move forward.
Arjun Prasad Aryal, Deputy Director General of the Road Department, said that the process will be taken forward after receiving information about the decision of the Council of Ministers. “After receiving information about the decision from the Council of Ministers, we will ask the Chinese official when the implementation agreement can be signed, and then the date will be fixed,” he said. “The agreement will be signed after understanding which level of employee will sign the agreement through the Chinese embassy.” He said that since the election time is approaching, it will be prepared by Falgun and signed in Chaitra.
“After signing, the design made by the Chinese technician is sent for approval, we look at it and inform whether it is correct or not,” Aryal said. “Then they send us the bid document, and after getting the design and bid document approved and sent, the construction company and consultant will be selected from there.” He said that China will send the construction company and consultant to work after this. ‘We will provide the site after the construction company arrives,’ he said, ‘if there are no problems, the construction company will be mobilized to the construction site within the current fiscal year.’
Even after 7 years of discussions about expanding the second section of the Ring Road, work has not yet started. The delay in the road expansion work has been due to the Nepalese government’s failure to take a timely policy decision. The Chinese side was in favor of moving forward with further processes only after the Nepalese government decides on tax exemption. With the decision of the Council of Ministers, now the Chinese construction company will not have to pay any taxes during the construction, from the equipment used in the construction to the customs.
A Chinese technical team had come to Nepal on April 6 to survey the second section of the Ring Road. The team spent two and a half months conducting the survey work for the design. Although the survey was conducted over a distance of 8.2 kilometers, the department has stated that the distance will not reach the Vasundhara culvert. The road expansion work will only be done near Vasundhara Chowk.
As per the design, a concrete bridge will be built at Dhungedhara. Three sky bridges will be made disabled-friendly. Sky bridges will be built between Sitapaila, Balaju and Machhapokhari and between Samakhusi and Vasundhara police station. The design includes street lights from Kalanki to Vasundhara Chowk to be built by China during the road expansion. On 6 Bhadra, a letter of cooperation was signed between representatives of the Nepal and Chinese governments. 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.
Currently, the Syafrubensi-Rasuwagadhi road is being upgraded and the second section of the ring road is being expanded with the grant of the Chinese government. The government has already decided to exempt the Syafrubensi-Rasuwagadhi road section from tax. An implementation agreement was signed between the officials of the two countries in 2019 to upgrade it with the grant of the Chinese government. The Chinese side has set up a camp for construction since December 17 and has started work. The distance from Syafrubensi to Rasuwagadhi is 15.5 kilometers. The Department of Roads stated that the decision for both sections was made by the Council of Ministers as per the foreign aid policy, as the grant amount is not used for tax purposes. The Chinese side has demanded tax exemption on construction materials used in the project to be built with grants and goods coming from China. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure has stated that the Koteshwor-Kalanki section was also built with China's grants in this way. The government of Nepal has taken up the work of expanding the third section itself after the Chinese side initially delayed the expansion of the second section of the ring road. Under the third section, blacktopping has been completed on one side of the 700 meters from Narayan Gopal Chowk to the Chappal Karkhana section. Blacktopping is also being done on the other side. According to the contract agreement signed on February 6, 2081, the work on this section should have been completed by June 25, 2082.
After the work was not completed within that time, the progress is 65 percent when the deadline is March 13. However, it is not visible that the work will be completed within that time. Subodh Kumar Devkota, the head of the Road Division, Kathmandu, claims that it will not take much time as all the construction work has been completed and only the blacktop is left. The contract for the road expansion of 700 meters has been won by Ambuja/SK/Kali JV.
Devkota said that the contract amount including VAT is Rs 240 million. It has been expanded to 6 lanes. Now, preparations are being made to expand the road from the Chappal Factory to Gopikrishna Bridge. For that, the National Planning Commission has been sent seeking a source agreement of Rs 510 million and the distance is about 1,200 meters, according to the Road Division Office, Kathmandu.
