After the government approved the detailed project report (DPR) for the Kathmandu-Terai/Madhesh Expressway on September 17, 2019, then Nepali Army spokesperson Vignanadev Pandey stated, “We have set a goal to complete the work within three and a half years. Our aim is to show the results of this project during the tenure of the current Chief of Army Staff.” At a press conference held at the Army Headquarters on September 27, 2019, this confidence was expressed while General Purna Chandra Thapa was the Chief of Army Staff. Not only has Thapa retired, his successor Prabhu Ram Sharma has retired as well, and the current Chief of Army Staff, Ashok Raj Sigdel, is now two years into his three-year term. However, the completion of the expressway construction does not appear imminent. Recently, Arjun Jung Thapa, a member of the National Planning Commission who conducted overall monitoring of the expressway, stated, “Considering the current status from zero to 71 kilometers, an extension of two more years seems necessary.” The originally approved DPR specified the expressway length as 72.529 km. However, it was later revised to 70.977 km on November 11, 2024. Years have passed since Pandey expressed hope of “delivering results”; now, with another three years needed for construction, the timeline approaches a decade.
According to the Office of the Auditor General’s report, the Council of Ministers decided to construct the expressway on May 5, 2017, and assigned the Nepal Army with construction management responsibility on August 13, 2017. Initially, the construction was slated for completion by 2021 and later by January 2025. The Council of Ministers extended the deadline to March 2027 during its April 18, 2023, meeting. The 63rd Auditor General’s Report (2027) states, “The construction period was extended until March 2027 without increasing the project cost, based on the Council of Ministers’ decision.” Currently, the project’s modified cost has been reduced by 2 billion NPR to a total of 21.2 billion NPR. At that time, the Nepal Army also informed that the deadline extension was granted without increasing the budget, approximately 21.4 billion NPR. Then Army spokesperson Assistant Rathi Krishna Prasad Bhandari said, “If technical delays related to land acquisition and contract procedures are promptly resolved, the project can still be completed within the scheduled timeframe (by March 2027).”
According to present Nepal Army spokesperson Assistant Rathi Rajaram Basnet, about 47 percent progress—both physical and financial—has been achieved so far. The DPR for the expressway’s starting point in the capital has been prepared by the Nepal Army and submitted to the ministry. Experts say there is increasing hope to resolve the longstanding controversies surrounding the project. Commission member Thapa remarked that approximately 3 kilometers out of the roughly 6.5 kilometers at the starting point have had disputes settled. “Previously, the road passed through farmland, but now the Nepal Army has prepared a new DPR that minimizes impact on people’s fields, temples, settlements, and ghats. We are currently reviewing it,” he added.
