Nepal - Strengthening the National Rural Transport Program Project

Project for Strengthening the National Rural Transport Program (P132750) (i) revision to the cost of the components and corresponding changes to be financed through the IDA credit and GON; (ii) changes to the results framework to adjust the targets of selected intermediate indicators (see Annex 1); (iii) reallocation of the IDA grant across various categories in accordance with the above changes; [...] Project for Strengthening the National Rural Transport Program (P132750) Table-4: Finding of Study of Impacts In/From the Zone of Influence Parameter In the case of Paved Roads In the case of Gravel Roads (a) For the people to reach an all-weather road The average distance decreased by 60%. [...] As against the allocation of SDR 65.2 million, the Project utilized SDR 59.1 million (90.6 percent) at completion, mainly because of the depreciation of the Nepali Rupee against the US Dollar (from NPR 98.26 to the US dollar at appraisal to NPR 120.67 to the US dollar at completion) and the SDR. [...] The contribution of the Project to poverty reduction and shared prosperity, as measured through the study of impacts, included: (i) increase in the value of trade by 25 percent and 59 percent in the zone of influence of paved roads and gravel roads, respectively; (ii) 40 percent improvement in employment within the roadway zone of influence; and (iii) approximate doubling of land value adjacent to [...] While the two PDO level indicators used to assess the achievement of connectivity and reliability were reasonable, the quality and sustainability aspects of the network (which depended on the ability of the network to withstand rains, floods and continuity of routine maintenance) could have been better captured.