Kathmandu, May 27 \u2014 The Government of Nepal has blacklisted Raman Construction and India\u2019s Patel Engineering Limited Joint Venture (Raman\u2013Patel JV) for three years for failing to maintain satisfactory progress in the national pride Sun Koshi Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Public Procurement Monitoring Office under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers placed 11 companies, including Raman\u2013Patel JV, on the blacklist. Companies under blacklist status are barred from participating in public procurement activities during the specified period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based in Janakpur\u20139, Dhanusha, Raman Construction partnered with India\u2019s Patel Engineering Limited to secure the contract for dam headworks, powerhouse structures, civil works, and the supply and installation of hydromechanical equipment under the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project office had sought clarification from the contractor on Kartik 25 last year regarding why the contract should not be terminated due to continued delays. However, authorities deemed the contractor\u2019s response unsatisfactory, leading to the blacklisting decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials said the joint venture repeatedly failed to accelerate construction despite notices and directives issued under contractual provisions. Former Energy Minister Kulman Ghising had also instructed authorities to initiate the contract termination process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alongside the contract cancellation process, the project has moved ahead with procedures to confiscate bank guarantees worth NPR 3.60 billion. The amount includes NPR 2.40 billion in performance security and NPR 1.20 billion related to advance payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The construction contract with Raman\u2013Patel JV was signed at NPR 14.08 billion, including taxes. The contractor had quoted nearly 32 percent below the estimated project cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Construction work officially began in Magh 2079 BS, with completion scheduled by Asar 2084 BS under the agreement. However, physical progress has reached only around 10 percent so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities stated that approximately NPR 2.14 billion \u2014 nearly 15 percent of the contract amount \u2014 has already been paid to the contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project\u2019s 13.3-kilometer tunnel was excavated using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and breakthrough was achieved on May 8, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project aims to divert water from the Sun Koshi River along the Sindhuli\u2013Ramechhap border into the Marin River through a tunnel system and channel it into the Bagmati Irrigation Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative targets year-round irrigation for approximately 122,000 hectares of agricultural land across Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, and Bara districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project is also expected to generate 31 megawatts of hydropower. Authorities have described it as a transformative national pride project intended to enhance agricultural productivity, improve farmers\u2019 livelihoods, boost energy production, and contribute to Nepal\u2019s broader economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The estimated total project cost stands at NPR 49.42 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nepal government has blacklisted Raman Construction\u2013Patel Engineering JV for three years over delays in the national pride Sun Koshi Marin Diversion Project. Authorities cited poor construction progress and initiated processes related to contract termination and bank guarantee recovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[95,91,96,93,94,92,90],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-blacklisted-contractor","tag-hydropower-nepal","tag-irrigation-project","tag-nepal-infrastructure","tag-public-procurement-nepal","tag-raman-patel-jv","tag-sun-koshi-marin-diversion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/merokathmandu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}