Kathmandu, January 1
The Investment Board Nepal has begun procedures to conduct a feasibility study for proposed Naagdhunga-Dhulikhel railway project. The Board says it will soon issue a notice calling for proposals to carry out the study.
The Board’s spokesperson Uttam Bhakta Wagle says the study is expected to be over within next one year.
If everything goes well, the detailed project report can also be prepared within one year, according to him. Actual construction, however, will begin only after around three years.
Earlier, the Board had concluded that constructing a railway from Naagdhunga of Kathmadu to Dhulikhel of Kavre would be possible. Based on the conclusion, the government had assigned the Board itself for the project.
Before that, Japan International Cooperation Agency and a Korean engineering company had conducted a study, and the Board has studied that report as well for reference.
The proposed railway will be 79 km long and it is estimated to cost Rs 316 billion.
The Board says the project will be developed in the build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model under public-private partnership.
