Compulsory Land Acquisition in Nepal: A Governance and Institutional Reform Perspective

The compulsory land acquisition for infrastructure development is necessary in Nepal, and rapid urbanization and large-scale government and public infrastructure projects increasingly demand private land. This research highlights the problems, practices, and legal and institutional frameworks governing compulsory land acquisition in Nepal. It addresses the central research question: To what extent does Nepal’s current legal and institutional framework ensure fairness, transparency, and efficiency in compulsory land acquisition, and what reforms are necessary within the federal governance structure? The research adopts a doctrinal legal analysis combined with policy, institutional review, and selected infrastructure development experiences. It used a qualitative research approach based on legal analysis, such as the Constitution of Nepal, the 2019 National Land Policy of Nepal, the 1977 Land Acquisition Act (LAA), and institutional review. The study identifies two key original findings. First, the 1977 Land Acquisition Act is structurally outdated and primarily valuation-driven, offering limited procedural safeguards for participation, transparency, and grievance redress, thereby undermining perceptions of fairness. Second, Nepal’s federal transition has created overlapping and ambiguously defined roles among federal, provincial, and local governments, generating coordination failures, compensation delays, and institutional fragmentation. The paper argues that these systemic weaknesses erode public trust, increase project costs, and slow infrastructure delivery. It contributes to policy debates by proposing a governance-oriented reform framework that emphasizes: (1) modernization of compulsory acquisition legislation; (2) clearer intergovernmental role delineation; (3) strengthened participatory and procedural safeguards; and (4) institutional mechanisms for transparent valuation and timely compensation. The study provides actionable recommendations to align compulsory land acquisition practices with constitutional guarantees, international standards, and sustainable infrastructure development objectives in Nepal.