An agreement has been signed with four municipalities in the Buddha Circuit area to develop tourist infrastructure and make the city a tourist destination by beautifying it. With the support of the World Bank, the government has signed an agreement between the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction under the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and the four municipalities to operate the Greater Lumbini Area Development Project in the four municipalities of Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and West Nawalpasrasi in the Buddha Circuit.

The agreement was signed by Kapilvastu Municipality Mayor Sudip Poudel, Lumbini Cultural Municipality Acting Mayor Kalpana Harijan, Ramgram Municipality Mayor Dhanpat Yadav and Devdaha Municipality Mayor Dhruv Prasad Kharel. Director General Rabindra Bohara signed on behalf of the department. The agreement was signed at the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.

The World Bank had decided to provide a loan of Rs 85 million on March 13 to develop the greater Lumbini region as a spiritual, cultural and tourist destination by connecting locals with tourism income. 

Lumbini Cultural Municipality Engineer Ashish Kumar Yadav said that an agreement of Rs 3 million (about Rs 459 million) has been signed for each municipality for the 5-year program. He said that the agreement program announced that Rs 90 million will be sent to each municipality through Colonica in the beginning of the coming fiscal year.  The main objective of the project is to improve tourism infrastructure and services in the Buddha Circuit area and promote local employment, said Kapilvastu Municipality Chief Sudip Poudel. He said that Tilaurakot (ancient Kapilvastu), an important place where Prince Siddhartha spent his 29 years of youth, which has always been neglected, will become a tourist destination for foreign pilgrims if the conservation and promotion of the project is promoted.

Work will be done to improve infrastructure and destination development, destination planning and vision, and local economic development and private sector involvement.

Under the local economic development and private sector involvement program, it is emphasized that locals will benefit from tourists coming to the greater Lumbini area.

A program to generate income and create employment from tourism will be implemented. Employment opportunities will be created by promoting the types, demand, and marketing of local products. Similarly, there is a program to create guides at the local level and provide them with timely training to help create employment opportunities. Similarly, walkways, toilets, digital boards, and transitory signage will be built to tour heritage-friendly historical and archaeological sites. Similarly, drinking water, sanitation, and sewage works will also be carried out.

The work to be done with the World Bank loan money has been divided into tasks. Most of the physical infrastructure work is done by the Urban Development Department. The work of destination planning and conceptualization is done by the Ministry of Tourism, Lumbini Development Fund and Nepal Tourism Board. In the first phase, an agreement has been reached with the local level.

This is the largest amount of assistance Lumbini has received so far. Kalpana Harijan, acting chief of Lumbini Cultural Municipality, said that foreign tourists do not spend even half an hour in Lumbini, and now they are working to increase their stay by targeting them.

This project has been in talks with the World Bank since 2016. However, Gopi Krishna Sharma, a former council member of the fund, said that it has reached a standstill due to the officials who came to the fund in the meantime. He said that the problem arose when the fund officials tried to advance the project for personal gain. 'After convincing the World Bank for the last one year, we have now reached a position to receive a loan,' he said. 'Now that the project is certain to be implemented, we are happy that the face of this area will change.' World Bank Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist Elad Seinfeld came to Nepal with the task of advancing the project. After nearly a year of discussions with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Tourism, and Lumbini Development Fund as the World Bank team leader, the results were fruitful.