Kathmandu, July 22: Members of the National Assembly have voiced serious concerns over the continued delays in the construction of the Kathmandu–Tarai/Madhes Fast Track (Expressway), warning that the national pride project is unlikely to be completed even within the next four years.
The concerns were raised during a meeting of the National Assembly Committee on Public Policy and Delegated Legislation at Singha Durbar on Monday, where lawmakers reviewed findings from field inspections conducted in Madhes and Bagmati provinces.
National Assembly member Ranjit Karna said that despite years of construction and the project’s designation as a national pride project, there remains no certainty about its completion. He said that although the government has projected the expressway could be completed within four years, field observations and discussions with technical experts indicate that the target is unrealistic.
Similarly, National Assembly member Yuvaraj Sharma said repeated delays have been worsened by the government’s failure to resolve implementation challenges on time. He urged the government to treat the project as a priority and ensure adequate budget allocation to accelerate construction.
The committee recently carried out on-site inspections of several major infrastructure projects, including the Kathmandu–Tarai/Madhes Expressway, the Nagdhunga Tunnel Road, and the President Chure–Tarai Madhes Conservation Programme.
Committee Chair Puja Chaudhary said the monitoring report would be discussed in detail at the committee’s next meeting. The latest revised completion deadline for the 70.977-kilometre expressway is mid-April 2027. However, the project has so far achieved only slightly over 48 percent physical progress.
Project officials said the expressway would require at least another two to three years to complete, largely due to unresolved issues surrounding a 6.5-kilometre section in Khokana, Lalitpur, where construction has remained stalled because the government has yet to decide on the proposed Pharsidol toll plaza.
Officials also said work is underway to revise the project’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) to relocate the original zero-kilometre starting point near Khokana. The revised DPR will require approval from the Council of Ministers before implementation.
The expressway is being constructed by the Nepali Army, which took over the project after the Cabinet transferred its management on May 4, 2017. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport formally handed over the project to the Army on August 11, 2017.
Originally, the government had targeted completion of the national pride project by mid-December 2024, but repeated technical, administrative and land acquisition challenges have pushed back the completion timeline. #nepal
