Japan offers Rs. 31.76 billion loan for Koteshwor Junction

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 4: A loan agreement for the Koteshwor Junction Improvement Project is signed between the governments of Nepal and Japan.

Japan has provided loan assistance equivalent to 34.59 billion Japanese yen (around Rs. 31.76 billion) for the project. The loan, to be provided through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will carry a grace period of 10 years, a repayment period of 30 years, and an annual interest rate of 0.2 per cent.

Under this project, an underpass and a flyover will be constructed along the Koteshwor and Jadibuti sections, which is expected to significantly ease the movement of vehicles travelling through Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur and the BP Highway, and help reduce traffic congestion. The project will be implemented through the Department of Roads under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the Finance Ministry informed in a statement.

Finance Secretary Dr. Ghanashyam Upadhyay and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Maeda Toru signed the Exchange of Notes for the loan support in the presence of Finance Minister Rameshore Prasad Khanal at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

Likewise, the loan agreement was signed by Joint Secretary Dr. Dhaniram Sharma, Chief of the International Economic Cooperation Division at the Ministry of Finance, and Mitsuzaki Masuki, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal.

Ambassador Maeda expressed confidence that the implementation of the Koteshwor Junction Improvement Project through Japan’s concessional loan assistance would bring significant improvements to the Kathmandu Valley’s transport system, and also recalled the decades-long friendly relationship between Nepal and Japan.

Likewise, Finance Minister Khanal said, under Nepal–Japan cooperation, this project aims to bring progress to one of the major traffic-congested points in the Kathmandu Valley, and expressed confidence that it would bring long-term improvements to the Capital’s transport management.