KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Finance has rejected the plan of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to cancel the loan approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for awarding a contract to a Chinese company.

The ADB has approved a $150 million concessional loan to improve the capacity of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and Gautam Buddha Airport in Nepal.

According to an ADB official, $60 million will be spent on building a state-of-the-art international terminal building, known as Terminal 2 (T2), at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa.

Another $100 million has been earmarked for building a parallel taxiway at the southern side of the runway of Tribhuvan International Airport and a new hangar apron facility at the eastern side of the runway.

After the loan was approved by the ADB, the largest funding package that the ADB has given to Nepal’s civil aviation sector so far, the Ministry of Tourism wrote a letter to the Ministry of Finance on December 21 asking the viability to mobilize Nepal’s own resources for the expansion of the airport.

The Ministry of Finance on January 28 replied that Nepal could not mobilize its resources for the project. Similarly, in the letter, the Ministry of Finance has directed the Ministry of Tourism to operate the project through the loan from the ADB.

The ADB has blacklisted China Harbour Engineering Company for violating integrity rules, and barred from participating in Nepal’s key airport infrastructure development project

The ADB will provide $150 million and the Government of Nepal will chip in $48 million for the improvement project.

The Ministry of Finance says, “It is a serious matter to receive such a letter from the Ministry of Tourism in the current economic situation where it is difficult for Nepal to mobilize the investment resources it needs to invest for the projects.

According to sources, Minister Prem Kumar Ale has written this letter as the ADB blacklisted company will not get the contract for the projects to be built with the loan assistance of ADB.

“Minister Ale has sent such a letter to award the contract to the Chinese company China Harbour Engineering Company for the project,” the source said.

The ADB has blacklisted China Harbour Engineering Company for violating integrity rules, and barred from participating in Nepal’s key airport infrastructure development project

China Harbour Engineering Company has been put on the Sanctions List until 2023. The Bangladesh government had blacklisted China Harbour in 2018 for trying to bribe a roads secretary.

Following the ban, China Harbour will no longer be allowed to participate in ADB-funded projects.

As part of the ultimate development of Tribhuvan International Airport by 2028, the ADB is investing Rs10 billion under the ” South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Airport Capacity Enhancement Project “, which includes extending the parallel taxiway towards Runway 02, and building two hangar aprons to relocate Nepal Airlines and Nepal Army hangars from the western side of the runway.

According to Nepal’s procurement laws, at least three companies are required to participate in the tender. But the aviation authority said the ADB rules stipulate that two companies can be eligible in a competitive bidding process.

Nearly two dozen firms had purchased bid documents to vie for the Rs10 billion Tribhuvan International Airport ultimate development project in Kathmandu, but only four Chinese companies submitted them.

Among them, China Harbour and Northwest Civil Aviation Airport Construction Group are blacklisted by the bank.

The ADB document says taking into account planned infrastructures for ultimate development, maximum runway capacity will attain 42 aircraft movements per hour in mixed mode operation on runway 02 enabling 187,000 aircraft movements per year.

As per the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the airport handled 124,255 aircraft movements (including 32,439 international) and 7,327,042 passenger movements (including 4,138,563 international) in 2019. The number of international passengers is projected to further increase to 6.1 million by 2028.

As per the design, the apron will have a parking capacity for two Code C and three Code E aircraft. The existing taxiway Q will be improved to Code C standard. A new link taxiway P of Code E standard will be constructed aligned at the right angle with the runway.

According to ADB, the project construction period will be approximately 36 months followed by a 1-year defect liability period. During the construction period, about 114,400 person-days of skilled and 663,545 person-days of unskilled laborers will be required for hangar aprons and parallel taxiway construction works.

As per the design of the Air Transport Project Preparatory Consultant (ATPPC), the parallel taxiway (designated as Taxiway J) will connect the existing international apron to the end of runway 02. Its position at 172.5m of the runway centreline will be in accordance with the latest amendment to International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 14 (amendment 14) for Code E.

According to the ADB document, as there is no taxiway on the southern part of the runway, aircraft need to occupy the runway for 2–3 additional minutes for takeoff and landing, particularly during peak hours.

The number of parking spots at aprons (international: 11 and domestic: 17) is not sufficient to handle peak-hour parking demand, causing unnecessary waiting time for spot allocation, the document reads.

With limited airspace in the Kathmandu Valley, the insufficient capacity of airside facilities are forcing aircraft to hold in the sky, leading to frequent flight delays.

Similarly, two hangar aprons are proposed for construction on the east side of the airport. The Hangar Apron #1 lies complementing with Buddha hangar, but this will encompass a few small Maintenance establishments requiring relocation or removal.

As per the design, the apron will have a parking capacity for two Code C and three Code E aircraft. The existing taxiway Q will be improved to Code C standard. A new link taxiway P of Code E standard will be constructed aligned at the right angle with the runway.

Hangar #2 is proposed to be located at the south side of an existing deep well of water supply and radar station. It will necessitate high fills to be supported by retaining works.

The apron will have a parking capacity of 3 Code C aircraft and 4 no of fixed-wing aircraft (MI 17 type helicopters). It will be linked with the runway by an access taxiway R.

The eastern side runway side strips will be improved in the areas complementing these hangar aprons and associated taxiways. For this section, the existing airport perimeter will be relocated. The improvement of runway side strips will contribute to further drainage improvement of the airport.