Pardafas Reporter
A LOC review meeting has been held between Nepal and India to review the progress of projects being constructed in Nepal with the loan assistance of the Government of India, as well as to ensure more implementation of the project and more effective utilization of funds under the LOC.
The meeting was chaired by Ishwori Prasad Aryal, Joint Secretary, International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance, and was chaired by Shridharan Madhusudhanan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (Development Partnership Administration). The meeting was attended by officials of the Indian Embassy and Exim Bank. Officials from various departments of the Government of Nepal were involved in the implementation of the project under the LOC of India.
The LOC review meeting inaugurated the Modi-Lekhnath power transmission line and substations constructed under the substation project at Lah Chowk in Kaski.
Under the 250 million loan from India, 42 km of power transmission lines have been constructed and substations have been constructed at New Modi, Leh Chowk and Lekhnath.
The project is being constructed by KPTL Limited and ABB of India. The construction of the substation package under the project has been completed and construction of the transmission line will be completed soon.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhushal inaugurated the project in the presence of senior officials of the Government of Nepal, Indian officials and local representatives.
Exim Bank had organized a workshop in this regard. Joint Secretary Madhusudhanan spoke at the workshop. After that, discussions were held between the LOC project contractor and officials of various departments involved in the project implementation.
Nepali stakeholders were briefed on India's LOC policy and guidelines and India's development and economic assistance plan.
Problems encountered in the implementation of the LOC project were also discussed at the workshop. At the workshop, Exim Bank officials shared their experiences of implementing the project in other countries and suggested ways to utilize Indian loan assistance in Nepal in a more systematic way.
More than USD 30 billion in debt assistance from the Government of India has been extended to more than 60 partner countries. There are four LOCs in Nepal with a total of USD 1.65 billion including USD 250 million, USD 550 million, USD 750 million.
These loan assistance have been spent on the implementation of infrastructure development projects and post-earthquake reconstruction projects prioritized by the Government of Nepal.
These LOCs have provided financial assistance only for more than 40 road projects, hydropower, transmission lines and 9 other irrigation projects and housing and reconstruction projects.
Many projects have already been completed, including some prestigious and big projects. Large projects like Koshi Corridor (220 KV), Modi-Lekhnath (132 KV), Solu Corridor (132 KV) and Dhalkebar-Bhittamod (400 KV) have been given special importance by the power transmission infrastructure constructed with the loan assistance of Government of India.
