India had committed NR 800 cr (INR 500 cr) in 2016 for construction of 10 roads in the Terai region of Nepal

The New Delhi-funded Terai Roads project is making good progress and is in the final stages of completion, India and Nepal noted during a meting on Thursday.

The two sides reviewed progress of the ongoing work at the 4th Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) on Strengthening of Road Infrastructure in Terai Area of Nepal.

Joint Secretary (Northern Division) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India Anurag Srivastava, and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Nepal Keshab Kumar Sharma, co-chaired the meeting, according to a statement of the Indian Embassy in Nepal.

Both sides noted that despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic, the project has made good progress and is in the final stages of completion.

Government of India had committed NR 800 cr (INR 500 cr) in 2016 for construction of 10 roads (divided into 14 packages/contracts) with a total length of 306 km in the Terai region of Nepal.

These roads connect the East-West Highway to Indian border, thereby increasing the ease of connectivity between the people of the two countries.

Both sides noted that, 13 out of 14 road packages had already been dedicated to the people of Nepal jointly by Honorable Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Government of Nepal and the Ambassador of India to Nepal on March 31 this year.

During the meeting, the Nepali side thanked Government of India for the continued support for development of infrastructure in Nepal, particularly in the area of road connectivity.

The Indian side expressed its happiness at the fruitful cooperation with Government of Nepal and the joint efforts made towards strengthening connectivity infrastructure between the two countries.

The meeting was held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere with both the delegations agreeing that the next JPMC meeting would be held on a mutually convenient date as per requirement.