ADB approves USD 100 mln loan to upgrade rural Nepal roads

Manila [Philippines], June 15 : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 100 million concessional loan for the additional financing of the ongoing project for upgrading rural roads in Nepal.

The additional funding will upgrade 324 kilometres of roads.

The ongoing project, approved in December 2017, has been upgrading rural roads to boost agriculture and agribusiness development, ADB said Wednesday.

The project aims to improve road access to about 7.5 million people in 16 districts across five states heavily dependent on agriculture.

"As a landlocked country, upgrading and connecting rural roads to core road networks is essential to improving living conditions in rural areas and Nepal's economic growth," said ADB Principal Rural Development Specialist for South Asia Andrew Brubaker.

"This project is helping improve transport efficiency in rural areas and plays a catalytic role for rural areas transformation."

Further, ADB said it would provide an additional USD 1 million technical assistance grant to support project implementation and institutional strengthening.