ADB, MCC asked to fund highway expansion

Kathmandu November 19- The government has requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US aid agency, to finance the upgradation work of the East-Way Highway.

The government had announced its plan to widen the highway to four lanes from two lanes through the budget statement for the current fiscal year.

The 1,024-km highway extends along the length of Nepal through the Tarai region and links the eastern and western parts of the country. It is also one of the busiest highways in the country.
 

The government has asked the ADB to finance the expansion of the Narayangadh-Butwal stretch of the highway. MCC has been requested to provide funding for the Pathalaiya-Kakarbhitta section. World Bank too had shown interest in funding the project. Meanwhile, Office of Millennium Challenge Nepal (OMCN) said that discussions on funding the project had been going on with the government for the last three months.  The organization plans to fund four projects, two in the road sector and two in the energy sector.MCC headquarters has indicated that it could provide a maximum of $700 million to Nepal under the compact programme for a period of five years.

Nepal was selected under the programme in December 2014 after it passed the scorecard-based criteria for the last four years consistently, and continues to demonstrate clear progress in institutionalising democratic progress, according to the MCC.

Likewise, the ADB confirmed that it had received a request for funding from the government. Source: TKP