Nepal, May 27 -- The government has envisioned developing new cities in 54 locations along the Mid-Hill and Postal Highways, as well as in the Himalayan region, each capable of accommodating at least 100,000 people.

Accordingly, the government has been allocating a budget every year and has deployed personnel for the projects. However, the progress of all these new city projects has been moving at a sluggish rate.

According to Milan Acharya, chief of the New Town Project Coordination Office, only 2 percent of the overall work under the New Town Project has been completed in 14 years. The project estimates a total cost of Rs 1.178 trillion to successfully implement the program. However, by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023/24, only Rs 12 billion...