Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement with the Government of Nepal to provide a $100m loan for upgrading nearly 400km of rural roads into all-weather standards.

The agreement was signed between Nepal’s Ministry of Finance secretary Nepal Shankar Prasad Adhikari and ADB country director Mukhtor Khamudkhanov.

The loan amount will be provided towards the Rural Connectivity Improvement Project to upgrade 388km of rural roads that mostly serve the agricultural sector and will connect more than 7.5 million people located across 16 districts.

It is expected to improve rural connectivity and increase transport efficiency in these  regions.

This project supports the Nepal Government’s Agriculture Development Strategy, which aims to encourage commercial agriculture, improve productivity and create new jobs in the rural regions.

“This project supports the Nepal Government’s Agriculture Development Strategy, which aims to encourage commercial agriculture, improve productivity and create new jobs in the rural regions.”

In addition to improving the rural road conditions, the project is expected to help in enhancing agricultural production, improving capacity of rural infrastructure agency and facilitating connectivity between the communities.

Furthermore, the ADB will provide $1m to restructure and upgrade the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads into a robust rural road agency.

The road project is expected to be completed by 31 January 2023.

Last month, ADB and India signed a $250m loan agreement to build 6,254km of all-weather rural roads.

This project will be carried out in the Indian states of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal.