The World Bank has agreed to provide additional loan assistance of Rs5.94 billion ($55 million) to Nepal for the implementation of the Road Sector Development Project (RSDP) which has been running since 2008.

The project has three components—road and bridge development, institutional strengthening and project implementation support and resilience enhancements.

During the project period, 21 different activities will be carried out. The final outcomes of the project include all-season road access, reduced travel time and improved access to economic centres and social services in 31 beneficiary districts.

The project will upgrade about 700 km of the existing dry-season roads and carry out periodic maintenance of about 2,550 km of selected strategic roads. The construction of 33 bridges on selected roads of the strategic roads network and the replacement of three earthquake-affected bridges with permanent structures are also major activities of the project, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The project will also do a technical audit of the civil works and the maintenance of 355 bridges affected by the devastating earthquake last year. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport will be the executing agency and the Department of Roads will be responsible for implementing the project. Baikuntha Aryal, joint secretary, International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division, Ministry of Finance, and Takuya Kamata, country manager, World Bank, Nepal Country Office, signed the financing agreement on Monday at the ministry.

The government has expressed sincere appreciation to the World Bank for its support in the socio-economic development of Nepal.