Nepal flood rebuilding may cost $5 billion, says billionaire Binod Chaudhary: Report

Rebuilding Nepal’s infrastructure after this week’s devastating flash floods could cost at least $5 billion, the country’s only billionaire Binod Chaudhary told Bloomberg TV, warning that the difficult Himalayan terrain could make reconstruction a years-long effort.

Chaudhary, chairman of Chaudhary Group, said it was still too early to assess the full cost but he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the bill reached $5 billion. The estimate includes the scale of infrastructure damage as well as the time and effort needed to rebuild in Nepal’s difficult geography, he said in the Bloomberg interview.

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The flash floods swept through Nepal’s mountainous border region with China on August 26, destroying villages, roads, bridges and power infrastructure. At least 469 people have died, while about 1,200 remain missing, according to figures cited by Bloomberg.

Chaudhary said Nepal was not prepared for another disaster on the scale of the 2015 earthquake and that the damage had caused widespread disruption.

“The numbers are yet coming in,” Chaudhary said, adding that the eventual death toll could be significantly higher. This was his assessment and not an official estimate.

Chaudhary Group is working with the government, local administration and the army on relief efforts, including setting up camps and rehabilitation centres in affected areas, he told Bloomberg.

The group plans to move from immediate relief to rebuilding shelters and schools and helping revive local economies, Chaudhary said.

He said the company’s reconstruction spending this time would exceed its efforts after the 2015 earthquake, when it helped rebuild shelters, schools and other facilities. Those efforts took seven to eight years, he said.

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The latest disaster is therefore likely to pose not just a financial challenge but a long-term reconstruction test for Nepal, with damaged infrastructure spread across some of the country’s most difficult-to-access terrain.