India has increased its annual grant to Nepal by 29.41 percent.

The Indian government through its union budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 has allocated Rs8.8 billion (IRs5.50 billion) to Nepal.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget in Parliament on Wednesday. The financial year in India begins on April 1.

In 2021-22, India provided Rs7.13 billion in grants to Nepal.

In 2022-23, the southern neighbour pledged Rs12 billion in grants but was revised down to Rs6.8 billion.

The grant pledged to Nepal is the second highest among the South Asian countries, after Bhutan.

Bhutan has received pledges of Rs38.4 billion [Rs26.11 billion in grants and Rs12.28 billion in loans].

India has doubled its pledge to Sri Lanka to Rs2.4 billion as the country suffers from the worst financial crisis.

The pledge to Bangladesh has been increased. The annual grant pledges for Afghanistan, however, have dropped.