KATHMANDU, Aug 12: Nepal and India held the 10th review meeting of the line of credit (LOC) in Kathmandu on Thursday.
From the Indian side, the meeting was led by A. Ajay Kumar, joint secretary (Development Partnership Administration-I) of the Ministry of External Affairs, along with officials from the Embassy of India and the EXIM Bank. From Nepal’s side, the meeting was led by Shreekrishna Nepal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal (GoN), and included officials from several departments involved in the execution of projects under LOCs of the Government of India (GoI).
Both sides appreciated the strong cooperation in the India-Nepal Developmental Partnership, including through the LOCs extended to Nepal and reviewed the progress of projects which are at various stages of implementation.
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The Indian delegates also went to site visits of the ongoing road projects being built with GOI’s LOC on Wednesday and Friday.
GoI’s LOC portfolio maintains more than USD 30 billion and is spread across more than 60 partner countries. In Nepal, it includes four LOCs – US $100 million, US $250 million, US $550 million and US $750 million, totaling US $1.65 billion. These LOCs are dedicated towards infrastructure development as prioritized by GoN. So far, these LOCs have financed more than 40 road projects (1,105 km completed), 6 projects in hydropower and transmission lines, and several others in housing and reconstruction.
Power transmission infrastructure such as Koshi Corridor (220 kV), Modi Lekhnath (132 kV), Solu Corridor (132 kV) and the Dhalkebar-Bhittamod (400 kV) projects have been augmented with major LOC projects. As of now, Nepal has been exporting up to 452 MW of electricity by using the Dhalkebar-Bhittamod 400 kV line.
The GoI has also agreed to fund Bheri Corridor, Nijgadh-Inaruwa and Gandak-Nepalgunj transmission lines and associated substations under Indian LOC at an estimated cost of US $679.8 million.
