Nepal Bets Big on the Hulaki Highway, with a Three-Year Finish Line and Rs 4.65 Billion in New Funding

Nepal’s long-running Hulaki Highway project has been handed a fresh deadline and a fresh budget. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle announced in Parliament that the road will be completed within the next three years, with Rs 4.65 billion allocated in the fiscal year 2083/84 budget.

The announcement came during the government’s budget presentation in the Federal Parliament, where the highway was framed as part of the country’s broader infrastructure push. For a project that has been under construction for years and repeatedly delayed, the new timeline signals a renewed attempt to bring one of Nepal’s most important east-west corridors across the finish line.

Why the Hulaki Highway matters

The Hulaki Highway, also known as the Postal Highway, is designed to run across Nepal’s Terai belt and connect districts from the eastern to the western border. It has long been considered a strategic road for trade, mobility, and access in the southern plains.

Coverage of the project shows why the completion target has become such a major national issue. The highway has been under construction for around 16 years, and reports have described persistent delays, contract issues, and funding pressures that have slowed progress. One recent update said the project was about 74.35 percent complete, with 1,380 kilometers blacktopped out of a total 1,857 kilometers.

A project that has tested patience

The latest budget promise lands against a backdrop of repeated extensions and stalled work in multiple sections. Reporting from Kanchanpur noted that some road segments remained incomplete even after deadlines were pushed back several times, with only part of the assigned stretch asphalted after years of work.

That history makes the new three-year pledge especially significant. It suggests the government is trying to move the project from slow, fragmented progress to a more decisive completion phase, though the scale of remaining work means execution will be the real test.

What the new budget changes

The Rs 4.65 billion allocation gives the Postal Highway Directorate new financial room to push construction forward in the next fiscal cycle. According to recent reporting, officials have said the project still needs substantial additional funds to close the gap between current progress and full completion.

In practical terms, the budget announcement does two things: it reaffirms the highway as a national priority and sets a political deadline that raises expectations for delivery. If the funding is sustained and implementation improves, the project could finally move from a decades-long promise to a finished road network linking key Terai districts.

What to watch next

The biggest question is whether the new timeline can survive the realities that have delayed the project before. Contract management, land and site issues, and uninterrupted funding will all determine whether the three-year target becomes reality.

For now, the government’s message is clear: the Hulaki Highway is back at the center of Nepal’s infrastructure agenda, and officials are betting that a combination of budget support and political urgency can finally deliver the road.