KATHMANDU: Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has approved its Strategy and Business Plan 2081–86, outlining ambitious goals for infrastructure development under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The plan was endorsed at the Board’s meeting held last Sunday.
According to Board Spokesperson Pradyumna Prasad Upadhyay, the strategy sets a four-year roadmap for advancing various projects across different sectors. He noted that the targets are ambitious, aiming to attract both minimum and maximum levels of investment.
Upadhyay expressed confidence that if a conducive investment climate is maintained, human resources are managed effectively, and necessary legal reforms are implemented, the Board will be able to mobilize the proposed scale of investment.
The strategy also aims to reform the Board’s institutional structure, strengthen organizational capacity, and enhance human resource management.
As per the strategy, the Board aims to bring 11 projects worth USD 8.95 billion into operation by the fiscal year 2085/86.
Even if not all are completed as planned, the Board has set a minimum goal of bringing at least five projects, with a combined investment of USD 4.7 billion, into operation during the same period.
Similarly, seven projects valued at USD 2.83 billion are expected to reach the construction phase. The Board has set an additional target to bring the construction of 14 projects worth up to USD 5.55 billion to their final stages within the four-year timeframe.
The plan also envisions pushing 57 proposed projects, with a total estimated value of USD 24.3 billion, through feasibility studies during this period.
Furthermore, 52 projects worth USD 23.5 billion will be taken to the procurement stage, and 42 projects totaling USD 17.95 billion will reach the negotiation phase for Project Development Agreements (PDA) and Project Implementation Agreements (PIA).
In addition, 32 projects valued at USD 15.7 billion will be advanced to the stages of financial management and pre-development.
Based on current trends, the Board anticipates approving investments totaling up to USD 7.45 billion for as many as 67 private sector-led projects over the next four years.
Moreover, around USD 3.15 billion in investment is expected to be approved for 25 projects led by other implementing entities.
To support the effective implementation of these goals, the Board has drafted a new organizational structure featuring dedicated directorates.
These include the Directorate of Planning, Administration and Financial Management; the Public-Private Partnership Directorate; the Investment Promotion and Facilitation Directorate; and the Project Development and Management Directorate.
Each directorate is to be led by an official at the joint-secretary level. An Organization and Management Survey has already been planned to guide this institutional restructuring.
Despite this ambitious roadmap, the Board’s performance over the past one and a half decades has fallen short. Since its inception, the Board has approved investments worth NPR 1,200 billion across 38 projects—a figure that reveals a significant gap between past achievements and current aspirations.
The one-stop service center set up within the Board’s office remains largely ineffective due to a shortage of personnel and slow execution of decisions. Although there has long been a provision to establish a separate investment fund, it has not materialized in the past 12 years.
Similarly, proposed mechanisms such as the Land Acquisition Fund and Viability Gap Funding remain pending. The Board still depends heavily on donor agencies for managing experts and staff.
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