KATHMANDU: In a major legislative push to prevent chronic project delays and cost overruns, the Government of Nepal is rapidly advancing the creation of a specialized Infrastructure Tribunal designed to fast-track legal and contractual disputes in the construction and development sectors.

High-level discussions were recently held at the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs to finalize the draft of the “Bill to Provide for the Infrastructure Tribunal,” according to the ministry officials.

The strategic meeting brought together key national policymakers, including Minister for Infrastructure Development Sunil Lamsal, National Planning Commission Member Arjun Jung Thapa, Infrastructure Secretary Gopal Prasad Sigdel, and Law Secretary Parashu Dhungana.

Specialized judicial and quasi-judicial bodies like this tribunal are widely practiced globally—such as the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) in the United Kingdom or the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment (SOP) frameworks in Singapore and Australia—to bypass traditional, overburdened court systems that frequently freeze multi-million dollar public works for years.

By introducing dedicated arbitration and rapid dispute settlement mechanisms directly into its governance framework, Nepal aims to modernize public procurement oversight, minimize investor risk and ensure national infrastructure projects stay on schedule.