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NEW DELHI. Arriving at Delhi's gleaming new Terminal 3 gives one the impression that this city has indeed upgraded itself to meet international standards. Spread over 500,000 square metres, this is one of the world's largest terminals, built to handle 34 million passengers a year. Although you may still have a few complaints (baggage losses, arrogant and/or untrained staff), it's a tremendous improvement from the congested, polluted, and uncomfortable terminal building of the past. An urban planner told this beed that if India had depended on aid agencies to build an airport of this magnitude, then it would have taken ten years instead of just four. The biggest lesson for Nepal is that large infrastructural developments might be better off in the hands of local private operators than donors.
Rapid development of urban infrastructure obviously facilitates one's ability to do business in a city. The expanded Delhi metro network has helped decongesting city roads and rendered commuting easier and faster, decreasing the economic costs of traffic jams. The over-charging cabbies complain that business is down but surely mass rapid transit is a crucial factor in making cities livable. We may still be battling hours of daily loadshedding here, but it is important that we explore the possibility of rapid electric transit systems for intercity traffic. Malaysia, a country with a similar population to Nepal, consumes 22,000MW while we are projected to be using just 5,000MW by 2025. It's time we calculated domestic energy demands and plan for self sufficiency in supply.
Small and medium enterprises are growing rapidly in India and this emerging segment presents a business opportunity more feasible for Nepal than trying to attract the attention of the big Indian giants. Indian tourists, too, comprise the highest percentage of visitors to Nepal. But we as a destination have to compete with many other countries that are actively wooing Indian tourists. Nepal needs to launch specific promotional packages to increase the interest of Indian tourists in coming over and spending money.
Anti-Indian sentiment blows hot and cold in Nepal but what cannot be denied is the importance of India to Nepal, in contrast to the significance of Nepal to India. In fact, Nepal is more of a potential security issue than anything else. In the last six months, key world leaders have made pilgrimages to Delhi, indicating India's rising global standing. The onus of engaging with India lies squarely with Nepal.
We need more Nepalis to go to Delhi, market Nepal's economic potential, and provide reasons for India's engagement rather than make trips to seek political or financial favours. We need to reassess the responsibilities of our embassy in India. Perhaps the time has come to outsource some of these relationship-building activities.
