Major road infrastructure projects across Nepal are struggling to move forward as budget shortages and administrative hurdles slow construction work.
Several nationally significant projects—including the Mid‑Hill Highway, Postal Highway, Kali Gandaki Corridor, and Karnali Corridor—are under construction in different parts of the country. Although the government has labelled them priority “national pride projects”, progress has been slower than expected.
Officials involved in these projects say the main obstacle is inadequate funding. In many cases, contractors have completed work, but payments are delayed due to a shortage of allocated budget. The lack of multi-year funding approval has also prevented authorities from issuing new contracts this fiscal year.
Apart from budget constraints, infrastructure development is also being delayed by practical challenges on the ground. Moving electricity poles, relocating drinking water pipelines, clearing trees, and managing compensation for land acquisition have slowed construction. Environmental restrictions on extracting construction materials from rivers have also added to the delays.
The Mid-Hill Highway, one of Nepal’s largest road projects, has been under construction for nearly two decades and is about 85 per cent complete. The project aims to connect eastern Panchthar to western Baitadi through a two-lane paved road stretching nearly 1,900 kilometres.
Similarly, the Postal Highway, designed to link the plains from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the far west, has been under construction for more than 16 years and is about 74 per cent complete.
Other major projects such as the Koshi Corridor, the Karnali Corridor, and several highway expansion works—including the Narayangadh–Butwal road section—have also faced repeated deadline extensions.
Officials say many of these projects could progress much faster if funding approvals were timely and preparatory work—such as land clearance and utility relocation—was completed before construction contracts were awarded.
