The people of Nepal are hoping that in his upcoming visit to their country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will gift them a 100-MW hydropower project that has been in progress there, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay said here on Friday. He, however, said the date of Mr. Modi’s visit to Nepal has not been finalised yet.
Speaking on the benefits of the power project, Mr. Vijay said, “Such projects will bring about economic and industrial revival in Nepal.” He also pointed out that for the past 10 to 12 years the condition of the industries in Nepal had not been “good.”
Speaking at the “Convention on Indo-Nepal Economic Relations,” Mr. Vijay pointed out that the bilateral trade between India and Nepal “increased by 11 per cent from 1996 to 2013.During the same period, Nepal’s bilateral trade with India increased from 29.8 per cent to 66 per cent.”
The bilateral trade between the neighbours at present was worth $ 4.7 billion. Recently, India signed an agreement with Nepal worth Rs.29 crore for supply of electricity.
Mr. Vijay pointed out that India was executing 445 projects worth Rs. 500 crore in all districts of Nepal. “These are fully funded by India,” he said.
India is building 1450 km of border roads, five rail links and four integrated check points in Nepal. India had provided grants worth Rs.200 crore to Nepal for buildings embankments on three major rivers, he added.
As for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s stand on its Himalayan neighbour, Mr. Vijay said, “Our Prime Minister has given high primacy to Nepal in terms foreign and economic relations.” Even though he claimed that the crux of Mr. Modi’s policy was “until Nepal becomes strong, India will not be strong”, Mr. Vijay said much remained to be done to boost the bilateral economic relationships with Nepal. He said compared to India’s grants to Afghanistan and Bhutan, Nepal received the “lowest amount of grants and assistance.” He praised the Nepal government for cooperating with the Indian agencies in curbing “influx” of fake currency notes in our country by Pakistan.
Mr. Vijay said, “We are expecting Nepal to create friendly atmosphere for Indian investors by providing government security cover to resolve labour problems.”
