Kathmandu, Sept. 10 -- Nepal government has invited international bids to upgrade the 70-km Narayangadh-Hetauda road, a major highway linking central Nepal's industrial hub with the country's main east-west transport corridor.

The international open bidding process was launched on September 4 for the section from the Rapti Bridge in Hetauda to Gondrang in Bharatpur, Chitwan.

The 70-km highway will be upgraded to four lanes and divided into three packages, with the first covering 40 km in Makawanpur district, the second 26 km from Makawanpur to Tikauli in Chitwan, and the third the four-km stretch from Tikauli to Gondrang.

Contractors will have three and a half years to complete the work after the contract is signed. Chuda Raj Dhakal, p...