NewBiz Report
KATHMANDU, August 5

The government and the World Bank on Monday signed a financing agreement for a $100 million concessional loan to be provided by the International Development Association (IDA) for the improvement of provincial and local roads, the global lender said in a press statement.

IDA is a part of the World Bank that provides grants and low-interest loans to low income countries.

Finance Secretary Ram Prasad Ghimire, on behalf of the Government of Nepal, and David Sislen, World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka, inked the agreement.

The loan is aimed at improving the connectivity, efficiency, resilience, and safety of Nepal’s provincial and local road network and strengthen the government’s capacity to manage the road network.

The first of the three-phase programme will target three of Nepal’s seven provinces and four local areas which will be scaled up in future phases.

“The Provincial and Local Roads Improvement Program (PLRIP)-Phase 1 will build and maintain about 3,000 kilometers of all-weather, resilient, and safe provincial and local roads and bridges, benefiting about one million people in Sudurpaschim, Karnali, and Madhesh provinces,” reads the statement. “It will also strengthen the institutional, management and technical capacity of provincial and local governments to plan, design, construct, and maintain road and bridge infrastructure and improve service delivery.”

A separate project agreement was also signed by the Ministry of Urban Development, the participating provinces, and the World Bank, the statement said.

Sislen said that the programme supports Nepal’s federalism agenda by empowering provincial and local governments and promoting inter-governmental coordination in the transport connectivity sector to help improve the lives of Nepalis through better infrastructure and services.