3 years ago
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has stated that 60 percent progress has been made in the last fiscal year 2076-077.
Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that the target could not be achieved due to the corona virus pandemic. Minister Bhattarai said that the ministry's expenditure was not in line with the target as most of the capital expenditure and financial progress could not be made from January to July.
Minister Bhattarai said that Rs 3.5 billion could not be spent in Bhairahawa and Rs 1.5 billion in Nijgadh International Airport due to lack of work.
Minister Bhattarai said that the work of counting trees has started for the construction of Nijgadh Airport, a project of national pride and 60,000 trees have been counted so far.
Minister Bhattarai informed that the Pokhara airport would be completed on time. Similarly, Minister Bhattarai informed that the airlines have decided not to operate the Chinese ship as there is no possibility of it flying in Nepali skies.
Minister Bhattarai said that the government was preparing to start domestic flights in view of the festive season and discussions were underway with private sector airlines for this.
Minister Bhattarai also said that in the first phase, flights will be allowed only in countries where PCR testing is easy for international flights. Minister Bhattarai informed that a maximum of 500 people will be allowed to visit Nepal every day after August 30 and this number will be gradually increased as the situation becomes normal.
In 2075/076, the total budget of the Ministry was Rs. 33.13 billion. The total budget for FY 2076/077 is 21.21 billion. Now, the average expenditure was 81 percent in 2075/076 and only 49 percent in 2076/077, according to the annual report of the ministry.
