Govt forms committee to study for operating int’l airports in PPP model

KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 1: The government has formed a committee to study operating international airports of the country through the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

A cabinet meeting held on Thursday approved the proposal to form the committee as per the recommendation made by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA).

Former Secretary Shankar Prasad Adhikari is the coordinator of the five-member Committee where investment expert Dr Ghanshyam Ojha, Chief of the Aviation Division of the Ministry, Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, Joint-Secretary at the Investment Board of Nepal and Deputy-Director of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Dipendra Shrestha, are the member-Secretaries.

The committee was formed to study the issue of operating Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan International Airport, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and Pokhara-based Pokhara International Airport in full capacity and the PPP model.

According to the MoCTCA, a five-member committee has also been formed to manage contract-based employees of Nepal Airlines Corporation.

The Committee has been formed under the coordination of former Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, where management expert Tikaram Rai, the Director General of the Tourism Department, representatives of the Finance Ministry and Finance Department of Nepal Airlines Corporation would be the members. This committee has been given a 45-day deadline.

With this, the cabinet decided that the Nepali Army should immediately provide land for the expansion of the Chitwan-based Bharatpur Airport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal to construct the damaged infrastructures.

Similarly, the government decided to provide land to Nepali Army at Shaktikhor for a horse breeding center and to bear all possible expenses for the same.

RSS