ADB pledges USD 100 million to upgrade rural roads in Nepal

The ADB today said it will provide USD 100 million to Nepal government for upgrading nearly 400 km of rural roads to all-weather standards.
The Rural Connectivity Improvement Project will also serve the agriculture sector and bring access to 7.5 million people in 16 districts, according to a press release issued by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Nepal.
This project is in line with the goal of the government's Agriculture Development Strategy signed in 2015 of encouraging commercial agriculture, increasing productivity, creating new rural jobs and increasing prosperity, it said.
The project aims to increase transport efficiency in project areas. It is expected to improve the rural road conditions between the selected rural communities, agriculture production areas and enhance capacity of rural infrastructure agency and road users in project areas.

Similarly, the ADB has also pledged to provide USD one million to restructure the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads into a state-of-the-art rural road agency, it said.
The project is expected to be completed by January 31, 2023, the release said.
Finance Secretary Shankhar Prasad Adhikari and ADB's country director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudhhanov signed the loan agreement on behalf of the Nepal government and the ADB, respectively, it said.
The ADB, conceived in the early 1960s as a financial institution, assists its members and partners by providing loans, technical assistance, grants and equity investments to promote social and economic development.