Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) on Wednesday agreed to provide a loan assistance of Rs 655 crore for developing and enhancing non-timber forest products (NTFP) in Uttarakhand.

This was decided at a meeting at the secretariat here where a 5-member delegation from JICA met state chief secretary Alok Kumar Jain. "Jica has agreed to work on the non-timber forest products in the Himalayan region," said an official statement said.