KATHMANDU, Dec 30: The government has introduced new criteria for granting source approval to multi-year projects, setting a minimum project cost threshold of Rs 500 million.
According to the Ministry of Finance, projects with an estimated cost below Rs 500 million will no longer qualify for multi-year contract approval. However, in the case of government building construction or service procurement projects, the minimum cost requirement has been set at Rs 200 million.
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The new guidelines also require that at least one-fourth of the total estimated project cost must be allocated in the budget at the time of seeking source approval.
To qualify under the new standards, a project must be registered in the National Project Bank Management Information System, approved by the National Planning Commission, and entered into the Line Ministry Budget Information System (LMBIS). In addition, except for design-and-build contracts, proposals are required to include an approved Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), or Brief Environmental Study, along with an approved Detailed Project Report (DPR) or Detailed Engineering Design.
Projects must also have an approved annual procurement plan, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan. For the current fiscal year, ministries have been given until mid-January (end of Poush) to submit proposals. If recommended by the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance will grant approval by mid-February (end of Magh), as per the new standards.
