Kathmandu, Nov 11 (IANS): Nepal Purwardhar Bikash Company Ltd (NPBCL), the first public limited company of the country building a national toll highway, Monday formally initiated the construction work of the 58-km project, company officials said.

Initiated by private sector under "4P" -- public, private, people partnership model -- the Kathmandu-Hetauda Tunnel Highway is one of the Nepal's largest infrastructure project, Xinhua reported.

This is also the first road project in the Himalayan nation envisioned and developed by the private sector using its own resources and expertise.

"After finishing all procedural, documents-related and preparatory works, our company is proud to announce the beginning of the construction of this nationally-important project," said Kush Kumar Joshi, chairman of NPBCL.

The four-lane highway starting from Balkhu in the national capital Kathmandu will have three tunnels with a collective distance of 4.5 km.

The company said that this highway will connect the entire western region followed by southern and eastern regions of Nepal through Hetauda and will significantly boost overall economic growth of the corridor, region and the whole country.