Among the national pride projects, Only Upper Tamakosi utilized the allocated budget

Kathmandu; The government’s poor performance in spending development budget has taken a toll on national pride projects.

The report of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) shows that the work progress of these projects appears pathetic during mid-July and mid-January. Unveiling the mid-term review of the budget for FY 2022/23 on Sunday, the Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel said only 15.16 percent of the total budget allocated for projects under national pride category was spent during the review period.

The government has declared 24 projects as national pride. Of these, only the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project has been completed so far.

For the remaining 23 projects, the government has allocated a total budget of Rs 98.97 billion for the current fiscal year. However, only around Rs 15 billion has been spent by mid-January.  

The government spent only Rs 807.9 million out of Rs 3.57 billion allocated under recurrent expenditure for the 23 national pride projects. Likewise, Rs 14.05 billion out of Rs 88.53 billion and Rs 141.30 million out of Rs 6.86 billion were spent on capital expenditure and financial management, respectively.  

During the review period, the Sunkosi-Marin Diversion Multi-Purpose Project witnessed 88 percent of the progress out of its annual target, which was the largest among all. The project has started digging a 13 km long tunnel, while the detailed engineering design of headwork, power plant and surge shafts has been completed. Not discussing the benefits of the project with locals is hindering construction work.

Among others, Budhigandaki Hydropower Project spent 15.86 percent, Babai Irrigation Project spent 34.88 percent, Mahakali Irrigation Project spent 42.86 percent, Sikta Irrigation Project spent 20.46 percent, Rani Jamara Irrigation Project spent 16.27 spent, Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project spent 19.38 percent, Sunkosi-Marin spent 88 percent and Rashtrapati Chure spent 18.78 percent. The much hyped Millennium Challenge Account Nepal achieved only 3.66 percent work progress.  

The MoF has attributed slow work progress of the national pride projects to lack of separate laws on selection and implementation of projects, lack of standard for coordination between the central and provincial governments and failing to incorporate the local people while taking forward the projects.