The government has decided to accept the assistance amount of Rs 51.38 billion to be received from the United States' Millennium Challenge Corporation for road and electricity transmission line in Nepal.

A cabinet meeting held at Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar on Thursday took the decision to accept the biggest foreign grant amount in its history, under the “compact programme” pledged by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the US government.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an independent US government agency working to reduce global poverty through economic development.

Under the compact programme, the MCC will invest up to $500 million via grant while Nepal government will contribute an additional $130 million in the field of power and transportation over the period of five years.

It is learnt that if all projects are not completed exactly after five years of their implementation date, the funds will go back to the US.

The final grant agreement is likely to be penned before the US fiscal year ends in September. Once the final deal is sealed, the government and the MCC will fix a date to roll out the projects.