IBN seeks Rs 280m to hire consultants for infra projects

The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has asked the government to set aside fund of Rs 280 million in the upcoming budget to hire around 28 consultants for fourteen infrastructure projects.
"We need at least two consultants for each project," an official at the accounting section of IBN told Republica. “The finance ministry and IBN, however, are yet to sit together for further discussion.”
The IBN, a high-level government entity that was formed more than one and half years, has been authorized to facilitate implementation of the 14 projects.
The projects that are in the bag of IBN include five mega hydropower projects. Similarly, other projects include project to upgrade Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu Metro Railway, Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track Road, Nijgadh Second International Airport, among others.
According to the official, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector lending arm of the World Bank, had developed the budget proposal of the IBN. "The IFC developed this proposal based on international practices of hiring consultants for large scale projects,” the official said.
This is the first time IBN is seeking budget from the government. So far, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) has been providing budget to IBN.
The IBN is currently working on finalizing project development agreement (PDA) negotiation with four mega hydropower projects, namely, Arun III, Upper Marsyangdi, Upper Karnali and Tamakoshi.