Government Pursues Sweeping Legal Reforms to Spur Infrastructure

The government is drafting and amending several laws to establish a predictable, business-friendly environment for infrastructure projects and industrial growth, ministers announced this week.

Speaking on Friday at a three-day workshop on legal reforms organized ahead of the Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2026, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sobita Gautam said the administration has declared the current fiscal year as the "Year of Legal Reform." According to Onlinekhabar, Gautam explained that around 54 bills have already secured Cabinet approval and are heading to the federal parliament for registration. She emphasized that investors must be assured their contracts will stand irrespective of political shifts, adding that authorities plan to establish a dedicated infrastructure court to resolve public-private disputes swiftly without protracted delays.

At the same workshop, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Sunil Lamsal stated that legal frameworks determine national outcomes, underscoring that legislative changes must serve citizens rather than intermediaries. Onlinekhabar reported that Lamsal addressed ongoing revisions to the Public Procurement Act, noting that proposals submitted by the Federation of Contractors' Associations of Nepal were bypassed because they did not provide a meaningful policy departure. Instead, he said, the government is prioritizing a public-centric statutory overhaul.

These discussions build on a consultation held at the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers' Office in Singha Durbar earlier in the week. According to Ratopati, Lamsal conferred with lawmakers who hold technical backgrounds to address persistent structural and logistical hurdles in the construction sector. During the meeting, Lamsal highlighted steep transport overheads facing domestic manufacturing, pointing out that transporting coal valued at Rs 60 can run up to Rs 1,100. To counter such imbalances, he said the government plans to eliminate customs duties on machinery and vehicles dedicated to moving industrial raw materials and encourage plants to locate closer to resource sites, such as limestone quarries.

Several parliamentarians at the consultation pressed for round-the-clock operations. Lawmakers Sagar Dhakal and Shriram Neupane argued that executing road and capital works in three continuous shifts across 24 hours is vital for speeding up delivery and lifting capital spending. Dhakal also urged statutory revisions to bolster coffee production and exports, while MP Ashish Gajurel advocated public-private partnerships and smart transit models to eliminate traffic bottlenecks. Other technical lawmakers recommended formulating targeted climate change legislation, raising civil engineer pay to curb skilled emigration, and establishing engineering colleges in the Terai.