India on Wednesday provided a grant assistance of 30.66 crore Nepalese Rupees (nearly INR 19.21 crore) to Nepal as part of its commitment towards reconstruction of educational institutions damaged during the 2015 earthquake. With this, India has reimbursed an amount of NRs 819.8 million (NRs 81.98 crore/INR 51.37 crore) to Nepal towards educational sector reconstruction projects, the Indian Embassy here said in a statement.
In April 2015, a devastating earthquake of 7.8 magnitude rocked Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and wounding nearly 22,000 others.
Namgya Khampa, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy, handed over a cheque amounting to Nepalese Rupees 306.6 million (NRs 30.66 crore) to Sushil Gyawali, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA) towards reconstruction of educational institutions in earthquake-affected districts of Nepal, the statement said. Under India's committed grant assistance of USD 50 million towards reconstruction of educational institutions in Nepal, 71 projects have presently been taken up by the Nepal Reconstruction Authority, it said.
The projects are located in Gorkha, Nuwakot, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Kavre, Dhading and Sindhupalchowk districts and include the Central Library building of the Tribhuvan University. While construction of three schools in Gorkha and five in Nuwakot have been completed, construction of 56 schools in the other five districts is underway. Seven schools are in the final stage of award of contract, the statement said. Khampa and Gyawali also discussed various India-assisted reconstruction projects being implemented in Nepal.
During the meeting, progress of various government of India funded reconstruction projects in Housing, Health and Cultural Heritage sector were discussed," the statement said.