"In the Union Budget presented Monday, the Centre allocated Rs 300 crore for aid to Nepal for 2016-17, a massive decline from last year's allocation of Rs 420 crore," the Indian Express writes.The newspaper has quoted an official who claimed that the cut was due to the lack of absorption capacity of Nepal rather than strained relations.
"The issue in Nepal is that of absorption capacity, and they have been quite poor in utilising the aid being given to them...Look at the earthquake reconstruction programme...they have just set up the reconstruction authority in Nepal. The aid last year could not be utilised, which led to revision of budget estimates," Indian Express said quoting an official privy to the issue.
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