Nepal Section of Asian Highway Sees 35% Progress in Two Years

Construction of Nepal’s section of the Asian Highway —a key international road corridor linking South and Southeast Asia—has achieved 35 percent progress in two years, with officials citing material shortages and unresolved utility relocation as major hurdles to meet the three-year construction deadline.

The four-lane highway spanning three districts in eastern Nepal is being built across market, forest and rural sections, with road widths of 50 metres in market areas, 24 metres in forest stretches, and 33 metres in rural areas. The project also includes the construction of 71 new bridges.

As part of the first-phase construction of the highway, single-lane blacktopping began on Sunday from Jhapa district towards the west.

The project has been divided into eastern and western sections.

According to Jagat Prajapati, chief of the Asian Highway Project’s western section office in Itahari, the project has achieved around 35 percent physical progress since the contract was signed. Sunil Babu Pant, chief of the eastern section office in Damak, said physical progress in the eastern section has also reached about 35 percent.

Pant said construction could gain momentum if the availability of construction materials improves. He added that relocation of electricity poles in the eastern section is nearly 80 percent complete, while progress in the western section stands at about 40 percent, with dense market areas posing particular challenges.

According to the project office, construction of major bridges has achieved 23 percent progress in the eastern section and 25 percent in the western section.

The road section is part of the Asian Highway No 2, which aims to strengthen regional connectivity through an international road network. In Nepal, the road falls under the East–West Highway, connecting Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts. The 120-kilometre Kakarvitta–Laukahi stretch in Nepal is part of the broader Asian Highway network, which starts in Bangkok, Thailand, and passes through Myanmar, Bangladesh, India and Nepal before continuing to Delhi and Karachi.

Construction of the road began on February 2, 2024, with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and a target of completing the project within three years. Initial estimates put the project cost at around Rs 28.17 billion.

Initiated by the United Nations in 1959, the Asian Highway project aims to enhance international road transport and regional connectivity across Asia. Nepal’s section is considered a crucial link for boosting cross-border trade, tourism and transit with neighbouring countries.

While the project originally planned to upgrade the full 120-kilometre stretch from Kakarvitta to Laukahi, construction is currently underway on 95.76 kilometres, for which contracts have been awarded. -- RSS

Read: First-phase Construction of Asian Highway Begins