Over 99% people have access to electricity

Kathmandu, May 27

Access to electricity in Nepal has reached 99.1 per cent of the population by mid-March 2026.

According to the Economic Survey 2025/26 presented at the Parliament by Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle, total installed electricity capacity stands at 4,105 megawatts, including 3,798 MW hydropower and 142 MW solar energy.

Likewise, electricity generated by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre is 106.24 MW, thermal energy (thermal plant) is 53.4 MW, and electricity co-generated through the sugar mill co-production method is 6.0 MW.

In the first eight months of the current Fiscal Year 2025/26, about 2,918 GWh of electricity was exported to India while 590 GWh of electricity was imported.

Last year, Nepal electricity export was 2,332 GWh, and import stood at 1,712 GWh.

It is estimated that an additional 666 MW of electricity will be generated from the construction of various projects by mid-July 2026. It will bring Nepal's electricity capacity to 4,626 MW.

“With the increased use of electricity, the consumption of petroleum products has slightly decreased. By mid-March of this fiscal year, imports of petrol and diesel decreased by 10.0 per cent and 9.9 per cent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year,” noted the survey.

85^th in SDG ranking

According to the survey, in 2025, Nepal ranked 85^th among 167 nations by achieving a score of 68.58 on the Sustainable Development Goals Index. In Nepal's context, the ‘spillover score’ related to the SDGs is 94.85.

To achieve the SDGs, Nepal needs to make an annual average additional investment of 755 billion during the remaining period (about five years).

By mid-March, the number of beneficiaries receiving social security allowances had reached 3.6 million which includes 46.14 per cent senior citizens above 70 years of age.

Likewise, in the contribution-based Social Security Fund, 2.85 million workers have been registered. But more than three-quarters of these are Nepali migrant workers.

The government has collected the details of 21 million citizens for National Identity Cards, while only 4.03 million cards have been distributed.

Social indicators improve

The report maintained that social sectors indicators are showing positive improvements, with absolute poverty having dropped to 20.27 per cent and multidimensional poverty to 17.4 per cent, and the Gender Development Index standing at 0.885.

Nepal's Human Development Index (HDI) stands at 0.622. The average life expectancy of Nepalis has reached 71.3 years. The youth (15-24 years) literacy rate is 94.2 per cent.

The number of government health institutions has reached 8,976. The maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births has dropped to 151, the infant mortality rate to 27 per 1,000 live births, and the under-five child mortality rate to 31.

The health insurance programme has expanded to all local levels. Up to mid-March, the number of citizens enrolled in this programme is more than 2.14 million.

Access to basic drinking water has reached 97.0 per cent of the population, but access to safe drinking water is limited to only 29.0 per cent.

Similarly, in the academic session 2025, the net enrollment rate at the basic level (grades 1-8) is 97.8 per cent, and secondary level (grades 9-12) 51.6 per cent. In terms of net enrollment rates, the Gender Parity Index is 1.02 per cent for the basic level and 0.9 for the secondary level.

Likewise, irrigation facilities are expanded to 44.6 per cent of agricultural land and 62.6 per cent of irrigable land. Now, forest covers 46.08 per cent of the total land area of Nepal while the global ratio is 32.0 per cent of the total land area.

Meanwhile, the number of members associated with a total of 32,325 cooperative societies reached 11 million. Those cooperatives are expected to mobilse savings of Rs. 1,029 billion.

Rs. 625 billion foreign investment approved

The government has approved investments worth Rs. 492 billion by mid-March, consisting of Rs. 389.74 billion from the Department of Industries and Rs. 02.26 billion from the Investment Board Nepal. Along with this, total approved investment in the industrial sector has reached Rs. 5444.06 billion.

Foreign investment worth Rs. 625.58 billion has been approved at the Department of Industries for a total of 7,951 projects. Among the approved foreign investments, the highest is in service industries at 28.3 per cent, and the lowest is in mineral industries at 1.3 per cent.

The number of registered companies reached 369,646, of which private limited companies are 97.5 per cent, while other companies comprise 2.5 per cent.

As public investment in the physical infrastructure sector increases gradually, the density of blacktopped roads built by the federal government has reached 138.7 meters per square km. A total of 104,906 km of roads have been expanded across the nation.

The report also mentioned that financial access is expanding. The number of deposit accounts in banks and financial institutions reached 620.06 million, while the number of loan accounts reached 2.04 million. Mobile banking users reached 29.4, while internet banking users reached 2.37 million.

For this year, the National Accounts Office has estimated the growth rate of 3.85 per cent while the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors are estimated to contribute 24.0 perc ent and 76.0 per cent respectively. With this, the Gross Domestic Product of the current fiscal year is estimated to be Rs. 6600.09 billion.

The survey also noted that the share of consumption in Nepal's economy remains high. The share of consumption is estimated to be 90.3 per cent this year. Within total consumption, the shares of the private sector, government sector, and non-governmental sector are estimated to be 91.26 per cent, 6.62 per cent, and 2.12 per cent, respectively.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 May 2026.  

Policy complication pushes real estate in crisis: NLHDF

Kathmandu, May 27

Business leaders said that the organised real estate sector, which has been making an important contribution to Nepal’s economic development and job creation, is currently in crisis due to policy complications.

Nepal Land and Housing Developers' Federation (NLHDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that the sector has not only kept the country’s economic activities dynamic for the past three decades but has also provided employment to thousands of people.

"However, the land ceiling regulations implemented since 2019 have caused significant difficulties for entrepreneurs," it said.

Under the new government rules, no company is allowed to hold more than 30 ropanis of land, and any land exceeding this limit is restricted from being sold or distributed.

According to real estate entrepreneurs, their core business is to purchase land, develop it, and then sell houses or apartments built on it. They consider land as their 'stock', and argue that imposing such a ceiling has brought the entire business cycle to a halt.

They further complained that when real estate activity slows down, hundreds of related industries are also affected. In particular, consumption in the steel rod and cement industries has declined, while employment—from unskilled labourers to engineers—has been directly impacted.

"In addition, entrepreneurs who have invested in real estate through bank and financial institution loans are being forced to continue paying bank interest because they are unable to sell land. They also report situations where land transfers cannot be completed," according to the Federation.

Meanwhile, many citizens who have purchased houses or apartments have also been unable to transfer ownership of the land into their names, even after making full payments.

The NHLDF expressed hopes that the upcoming budget will address this issue positively. Arguing that a 30-ropani ceiling is not practical for organised urbanisation and large-scale city development, it urged the government to relax the restriction and facilitate land transactions for commercial purposes.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 May 2026.  

Xiaomi launches 9.7" pad in Nepal

Kathmandu, May 27

Xiaomi has launched the Redmi Pad-2 9.7-inch in the Nepali market.

The tablet comes with an octa-core processor and a 9.7-inch 2K display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is available in graphite gray and silver colour options and features a metal body design.

The device is equipped with a 7,600mAh battery with 18W charging support. It has an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. It also includes stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Redmi Pad 2 9.7-inch runs on Xiaomi HyperOS 3 and supports integration with other Xiaomi devices. It weighs 406 grams.

The tablet includes face unlock for device access. The 4GB RAM and 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 25,999 in Nepal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 May 2026.  

Speakers urge mechanism to tap NRNs' expertise

 Kathmandu, May 27

Experts have said that a mechanism should be developed to effectively avail of experienced, skilled, and academically qualified experts for multidisciplinary and contemporary research, study, and policy advocacy.

Speaking at an interaction organsied by the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) in Kathmandu on Tuesday, former administrators, private sector experts, and other stakeholders said that such pool of experts can support in advancing the country's governance system, sustainable economic development, and evidence-based policymaking.

The interaction identified existing policy gaps in the country and discussed possibilities for long-term policy reform, the NRNA said in a statement.

Discussions highlighted the need to expand collaboration among non-resident Nepalis, Nepali academic scholars, retired civil servants, successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople, journalists, legal professionals, and researchers to enhance institutional contributions to policymaking.

Likewise, the programme emphasised the formulation and implementation of economic policies focused on structural transformation for Nepal's long-term and inclusive economic development.

Participants stressed the need to pay particular attention to policies that boost production and productivity, industrialisation, the digital economy, the green economy, job creation, and strengthening public-private-cooperative partnerships.

According to them, a collaboration is needed to create the legal and policy frameworks necessary to effectively mobilise the knowledge, skills, and capital of non-resident Nepalis worldwide for Nepal's prosperity and development.

The programme stressed the need to institutionally utilise the international experience and knowledge of Nepali experts in Nepal's policymaking and development processes.

It recommended creating a common platform to coordinate the private sector, academic institutions, and Nepali experts abroad to prepare policy dialogue, research, and strategic recommendations.

Participants of the discussion included President of the Non-Resident Nepali Association, Dr. Hem Raj Sharma, immediate past president Dr. Badri KC, former chief secretaries Ek Narayan Aryal and Shankar Bairagi, former secretaries Shishir Kumar Dhungana, Prem Kandel, Ram Prasad Ghimire, Dhanraj Gyawali, Phadindra Gautam, and Mani Ram Gelal, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Anjan Shrestha, President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Birendra Raj Pandey, Vice President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Deepak Shrestha, retired Inspector General of Armed Police Raju Aryal, and President of the Independent Power Producers' Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Ganesh Karki.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 May 2026.  

EU envoys pledge to assist Nepal in education, ICT and tourism

Kathmandu, May 26

The European Union (EU) indicated that Nepal is likely to remain on its 'Aviation Safety Concern List' along with sustained operation ban, commonly known as black-list, for a while.

An EU team, following an assessment of the progress in 2023, had recommended the areas and activities to reform. But Nepal couldn't register sufficient progress. "The CAAN had formulated an action plan to improve the status but for the last two and a half years, there was no progress," EU Ambassador to Nepal Veronique Lorenzo said at a press meet organised jointly with 22 envoys of EU member States to Nepal in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

She added that the EU is supporting Nepal to implement new standards in improving the aviation sector so that it would be delisted from the EU's safety concern list.

"All the ministers and chiefs of government agencies asked the same question to this delegation. We have same single objective to instill confidence in Nepal's aviation industry," she stated as the representative of the visiting delegation.

However, Ambassador Lorenzo maintained that the EU had asked Nepal for having independent departments for service operation and regulation of the aviation sector but not splitting the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) into two separate entities,

The EU placed Nepal on the list and banned Nepali airlines operators from flying to its member countries on December 5, 2013. The causes it cited then were a series of aviation accidents and regulatory concerns.

Although the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) removed Nepal from its list of 'Significant Safety Concerns' in 2017 after assessing the safety improvements, the EU maintained the status quo. Nepal was included in the ICAO 'safety concern' in 2013.

The delegation included envoys from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Of these countries, Finland, France and Germany have their embassies in Nepal apart from the EU Delegation.

Likewise, Ambassador Lorenzo suggested Nepal should begin its homework for the graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC). Stating that some sectors will be most vulnerable and many jobs will be lost, she expressed her dismay that the country didn't do its homework to face the post-graduation scenario.

The ambassadors present at the press meet said that they were keen to support the new government in its development initiatives especially in education and information technology sector.

Several of them expressed their readiness in extending cooperation in tourism sector as well. Non-resident ambassador of Sweden to Nepal Jan Thesleff said, "Now tourists want to experience the culture, nature and adventure which Nepal has in abundance. From nature to mountains and wellness, you can offer a lot to the tourists."

He also said that Sweden is ready to support Nepal in tourism.

Similarly, non-resident ambassador of Estonia to Nepal Marje Luup said that her country is ready to share its practices and successes in ICT and e-governance with Nepal. "I am sure there will be many other opportunities where we can find ways for cooperation," she said.

Non-resident ambassador of Cyprus to Nepal Evagoras Vryonides expressed concerns to Nepalis paying huge sums of money to reach Cyprus. "Nepali workers and students are paying about 7,000 Euros (above Rs. 1.2 million). This should be reduced and we must find a way out for that," he said.

Meanwhile, the envoys appreciated the government leadership in Nepal and said that Prime Minister Balendra Shah was determined to deliver in order to meet the public expectations.

“It is rare that there are such joint diplomatic trips, and we are overwhelmed by the hospitality we received,” they said. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 May 2026.  

DoCS launches 'MoFA Mitra'

Kathmandu, May 26

The Department of Consular Services (DoCS), an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, officially launched MoFA Mitra mobile application to facilitate registering consular-related concerns and grievances.

The application enables Nepali citizens abroad and their families to register their consular related concerns and grievances online, and receive timely updates on their requests.

It will also help them to track the status of their requests and communicate directly with the Nepali missions concerned for the effective resolution of their issues, the MoFA informed in a statement.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal launched the app at a programme organised at the DoCS on Tuesday. The app is available on Android and iOS platforms.

Speaking on the occasion, FM Khanal said that consular assistance has become more important than ever, as millions of Nepalis are living outside the country and the trend of going abroad continues to rise.

He also highlighted the importance of leveraging digital technology to make consular services more accessible and effective.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 May 2026.  

Chinese delegation calls on FM Khanal

Kathmandu, May 26

A delegation led by Zhao Peng, Vice Chairman Xizang Autonomous Region of China, paid a courtesy call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal, at the Ministry on Tuesday.

They discussed on further strengthening relations and enhancing cooperation between Nepal and China, in areas including connectivity, infrastructure development, cross-border trade, investment, agriculture, tourism and people-to-people relations.

"Views were also exchanged on advancing constructive and forward-looking cooperation in areas such as digital economy, information and communication technology, and hydropower," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) informed in a statement.

Meanwhile, Signe Brudeset, Director General of the Department for Regional Affairs of Norway, paid a courtesy call on Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, at the Ministry.

During the meeting, they appreciated the outcomes of the 2nd meeting of Bilateral Consultation Mechanism between Nepal and Norway.

MoFA said that cooperation on energy, education, social justice and trade was also discussed.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 May 2026.