By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Jan. 3: The number of development programmes in the National Project Bank has climbed to 7,128 by the end of 2021 from 6,512 projects in February that year.
The project bank managed by the National Planning Commission (NPC) has ranked 5,790 projects as ongoing while 1,338 are future projects. In February last year, the number of ongoing and future projects was 5,347 and 1,165 respectively.

According to the NPC, the project bank aims at providing ministries and development agencies the required tools to make well-informed strategic development decisions based on evidence based on assessment, prioritisation and planning.

Number of projects in National Project Bank
The total cost of the projects included in the bank is more than double the size of the national economy, Nepal’s economy is estimated to be of Rs. 4266.3 billion by the end of the last fiscal year 2020/21.
However, inclusion of project in the bank does not ensure its implementation, it should be apprised by the government. By February last year, the government had apprised only 284 projects.

The NPC accepts the project following a submission of a concept note from the competent authority while the latter should conduct feasibility study for the approval while complex projects need the Detailed Project Report (DPR) as well. Only after completing these stages, the project is selected and prioritised in the project bank.

No funding will be released to the projects not included in the bank, said the NPC. When selected, the project is included in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and the Ministry of Finance makes arrangements for the funding.
These projects are categorised into five different sectors: physical infrastructure, urban development, energy and water resources, water supply, and home affairs.
The bank will provide readily and thoroughly analysed projects of diverse sectors for execution which will help in effective management and optimal utilisation of the available resources.

Likewise, the bank will help in the integration of projects for development effectiveness and facilitate their monitoring and evaluation.