Govt extends RFP submission deadline

The government has extended the deadline for submission of request of proposal (RFP) document for the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track project from the selected Indian infrastructure developers by a month till 21 June.
“We decided to give one more month to the selected infrastructure developers to submit RFP document,” Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT), told Republica.
The government has shortlisted three Indian infrastructure developers -- namely Reliance Infrastructure, Larsen & Tourbo (L&T) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FC) to develop the project.
Earlier, the government had asked the three firms to submit RFP document within three months. It decided to extend the deadline after all the firms requested for more time.
The firms were selected on the basis of their previous experience working under the built-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) and other capabilities such as capital and their past history of completing work on time. The government shortlisted these firms from nine aspirant companies that had registered expression of interest to develop the project.
The government has decided to develop the project under the BOOT Act.
"We will conduct detailed study on their RFPs once they submit the required documents,” added Sitaula.
The MoPIT, which is overseeing the implementation of the project, has said the track opening works of the mega project have already been completed. The 76-km expressway links Kathmandu with Nijgadh of Bara.
According to the cost estimation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2008, Rs 67 billion would be required to develop the project.