The Ministry of Finance has revised the criteria for resource consent for multi-year projects, 2082. The ministry amended the criteria on 25 Chaitra and extended the time for granting resource consent for projects. According to the revised criteria, the National Planning Commission should send the recommendation for granting resource consent to projects coming from various ministries and departments to the Ministry of Finance by 15 Baisakh.

In the case of projects recommended by the commission, the ministry will grant resource consent by mid-Baisakh. Earlier, it was mentioned that the concerned ministries and agencies should send the projects to the commission for resource consent by mid-Poush. According to which, it was mentioned that the commission should recommend for granting resource consent for projects that have completed the process by 15 Magh and send it to the Ministry of Finance.

After that, the Ministry of Finance should decide to grant resource consent by mid-Magh and pave the way for new contracts for the related projects. The time specified in the election code of conduct had passed since the projects sent to the commission for consent could not be sent to the Ministry. Although this decision was expected from the government formed immediately after the elections, the process could not proceed further after the resignation of the Vice Chairman of the Commission Prakash Kumar Shrestha.

By adding sub-section (7) after sub-section (6) of Section 4 of the revised criteria, it has been mentioned that the Member Secretary of the Commission will work in accordance with this criterion in the absence of a Vice Chairman. This means that even if there is no Vice Chairman, the work will be done by the Member Secretary. Similarly, it is mentioned that the concerned ministry can proceed with the re-procurement process by preparing a cost estimate in accordance with the prevailing law so that the results of the work mentioned in the procurement agreement of the terminated projects do not increase. The criteria state that the National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance should be informed of the increase in the previous cost while proceeding with the re-procurement process.

The amount of the projects for which the re-procurement process is being carried out must be proposed by the concerned ministry in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year within the budget limits. The concerned ministries and bodies say that there is a problem in entering into new contracts in the current fiscal year due to not receiving a multi-year resource agreement on time. Due to this, projects of national pride and strategic importance could not get resource consent on time. The projects for which resource consent was sought under the Road Department include the Mid-Hill, Hulaki and Madanbhandari Highways. The Koshi, Kaligandaki and Karnali Corridor roads are under the department.

The Kathmandu-Terai/Madhes Fast Track has also been sent for resource consent. Under the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation, requests for resource consent have been sent by mid-December for the Sunkoshi Marine Diversion Multipurpose Project, Babai Irrigation, Sikta Irrigation, Mahakali Irrigation, Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation and Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Projects. The National Planning Commission has been sent requesting resource consent for projects of national pride and consent should be obtained according to the revised criteria, said Premhari Parajuli, Senior Divisional Engineer of the department.

‘We have sent a request for resource consent for consulting on the Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project, and for other projects, we have requested consent for construction only,’ he said, ‘There is no need to submit a new one.’ He said that the work will be taken forward after the resource consent for the submitted project is received. ‘We had previously worked on the Sunkoshi Marine Diversion Multipurpose Project with resource consent, but there was confusion about whether to seek consent again,’ he said, ‘In the case of termination of the contract due to the revised criteria, it has been said that in order to proceed with the remaining work, a cost estimate will be prepared and consent will not be required, which will make it easier to proceed with the contract.’

He said that the cost for a new contract for Sunkoshi Marine is currently at the stage of being approved. He said that there will be no problem in proceeding with the new contract process as soon as the resource consent is received. The revised criteria will facilitate the management of a large number of broken contracts, said Shyam Bahadur Khadka, Deputy Director General and Spokesperson of the Road Department. ‘The revised criteria stipulate that contracts will be re-contracted for projects whose contracts have expired,’ he said, ‘which has paved the way for the process of new contracts for such projects by estimating the cost.’