The ADB Board approved on 29 June the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Power Transmission and Distributions Systems Strengthening Project that will finance the reinforcement and modernization of the power transmission system in Kathmandu Valley, Bharatpur metropolitan area of Chitwan district in Bagmati Province and Pokhara of Kaski district in Gandaki Province. Electricity supply in these areas leaves so much to be desired as outages are becoming more frequent and prolonged. The project will also improve electricity access in Province 2 where only 80% of the population is connected to the grid.The project will also upgrade substations in Khimti, Barhabise and Lapsiphedi to 400 kilovolts that will help support power trade between Nepal and India. The project team is led by Jiwan Acharya, SAEN.