Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood today inaugurated the office of the Central Depository System and Clearing Limited, a subsidiary company to run the CDS in the domestic securities market, here.

India has provided technical assistance to Nepal to establish a Central Depository and Clearing and Settlement System as per the government's request. The system helps in electronic clearance and settlement of securities transactions.

CDS keeps electronic records of shares, debentures, treasury bills and treasury bonds, stocks and other securities, replacing physical certificates of securities.

India committed a total assistance of 14.72 crore Nepalese rupees for providing consultancy services and application software for the project. Nearly half of the committed assistance has been already disbursed.

This project was conceived about two years ago after two separate teams, one from Security Board of Nepal (SEBON) and other from Nepal Stock Exchange, visited India to observe the Central Depository System and the overall functioning of the capital market in India.

Following the visit, the Government of Nepal decided to seek technical assistance from the Government of India to establish a Central Depository and Clearing and Settlement System in Nepal, the embassy here said.

Besides the technical assistance for establishing CDS, India has also provided technical assistance for the overall institutional strengthening of SEBON.

Ambassador Sood expressed hope the assistance will provide impetus for robust capital market growth which is an essential element for a faster industrial development and economic growth in Nepal.