Government spending on national pride projects has remained sluggish in the first half of the current fiscal year.
Despite being a top priority, only 25.7% of the allocated budget for these projects was spent during this period.
For the fiscal year 2024/25, the government allocated around Rs 66.75 billion for 19 national pride projects, including Rs 2.68 billion for recurrent expenditure, Rs 63.25 billion for capital expenditure, and Rs 755.2 million for financial management.
However, by mid-January 2025, only around Rs 17.15 billion—Rs 1.21 billion in recurrent expenditure and Rs 15.93 billion in capital expenditure has been spent, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Read: The Struggles of National Pride Projects
Since the program’s inception over a decade ago, the number of national pride projects has increased from 17 to 27. Among these, the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, Gautam Buddha International Airport, and Pokhara Regional International Airport have been completed.
While discussions are ongoing to finalize the modality of the West Seti Hydropower Project, other projects remain in various stages of implementation.
Once heralded as transformative drivers of economic growth and infrastructure development, National Pride Projects (NPPs) have instead become symbols of systemic inefficiencies, bureaucratic hurdles, and unmet promises. Envisioned as cornerstones of the nation’s progress, these projects have faced persistent setbacks, cost overruns, and lackluster implementation, raising concerns about Nepal’s capacity to execute large-scale infrastructure initiatives.
