Kinshasa, Aug 12 (IANS): The Export Import Bank of India has approved a US$42 million line of credit from the Indian government to the Democratic Republic of Congo for building a hydro-electric plant in this central African country.

Indian Ambassador D.N. Srivastava said an agreement for the construction and commissioning of the Kakobola hydro-electric power project was signed between Matata Ponyo Mapon, Congo Finance Minister, and Nadeem Panjetan, general manager of the Export Import Bank of India in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital.

The 9.3-mw Kakobola plant will be located in the Kwilu district of Bandudu province and will cater to more than 1.9 million residents in the nearby region. The project is expected to be completed in three years. The credit line for the project was announced by Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in October during Congo Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba's visit to New Delhi.

This is the third line of credit approved by India to Congo in the recent years. In 2006, a credit line of $33.5 million was approved for purchase of buses and construction of a cement factory.

The second line of credit of $25 million was approved in 2009 for supply and installation of hand pumps and submersible pumps all over the country.