India has completed and handed over to Nepal a 22KV power transmission line, a cross-border economic initiative under India’s Neighbourhood First policy, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The 106-km Koshi Corridor transmission line, which costed a total of NRs 10.40 billion (USD 86.8 million) is being built under Government of India’s Line of Credit of USD 550 million, extended by the EXIM Bank of India, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a statement.

Package 1 of this project, worth NRs 4.5 billion (USD 37.3 million), was executed by India’s Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) and handed over to Nepal Electricity Authority after successful completion and charging of the line.

A function was held on Wednesday in the Hile area of, Dhankuta Municipality of Nepal to mark the completion of construction of the 220 kv Double Circuit Koshi Corridor power transmission line (Inarwa-Basantpur-Baneshwar-Tumlingtar) and its handover to Nepal Electricity Authority, the statement said.

Once the remaining two packages are completed, the project will ensure smooth power evacuation from the generation projects coming up in the Arun and Tamor river basins, with power output totaling about 2,000 MW. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu tweeted,

The project was handed over by KPTL and EXIM Bank of India to Managing Director, Nepal Electricity Authority in presence of senior officials of the Indian embassy and administration representatives from Dhankuta.

(With PTI Inputs)