Chinese company chosen to prepare DPR for monorail project in Nepal's capital

A signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of a monorail project is held in Kathmandu, Nepal, Dec. 19, 2018. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

A Chinese Company, China Railway 25th Bureau Group Co. Ltd. (CRCC), has got the responsibility of preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a proposed monorail project in capital Kathmandu, three months after the company submitted feasibility study report of the project.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and the Chinese company on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the DPR preparation.

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), design of monorail, technical and construction capacity, cost and traffic estimates, different phases of developing the project and the potential benefits from the project will be the key components of DPR, the KMC said in a press statement.

The metropolis said that the KMC reserves the right to accept the DPR in full or in part. Mahesh Kafle, chief of international affairs coordination division at the KMC, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the Chinese company has been given one-year deadline to complete the DPR from the date of MoU signing.

According to KMC, the CRCC will be responsible of the entire cost of the DPR preparation.

Kafle said that the CRCC has also showed interest in developing the project by itself. "If the Nepali authorities decide to appoint another company to develop the project, Nepal should not let another company to use the DPR prepared by CRCC without its approval," Kafle said.

On Sep. 13, the CRCC submitted the feasibility study report concluding that such project could be developed in the Nepal's capital city.

The KMC has planned to develop the monorail alongside the existing 27-km Ring Road which surrounds the capital city.