KATHMANDU -- Nepal's Finance Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) signed a subsidiary loan agreement on June 5 to construct country's second international airport in Pokhara, which will be built with the financial assistance of the Chinese government.
The new deal reached between the two government agencies has paved a way for the construction of the regional international airport in the western resort town of Pokhara, some 200 km west of the capital of Kathmandu.
Officials from the Finance Ministry and the CAAN signed the loan deal at an interest rate of 5 percent, Chief of Pokhara Regional International Airport Construction Project Pradip Adhikari told media. The total estimated cost of the airport stands at 216 million U.S. dollars.
The construction of the airport had started on April 13 with the laying of foundation stones by Prime Minister Sharma Oli.
With funding from the China Exim Bank, the airport constructed by China's CAMC Engineering Co is expected to come into operation in July 2020.
This is the second biggest China-funded development project in Nepal, after the 750-megawatt West Seti hydropower which is estimated to cost 1.6 billion U.S. dollars.
A single purchase
