Nepal business, finance and trade news, every Wednesday.
Bhotekoshi Flood Leaves a $2 Billion Bill
The National Planning Commission's Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment has calculated total losses from the August 26 Bhotekoshi floods at Rs 408 billion ($2.68 billion). More than two-thirds of that amount, or about $1.97 billion, are expected to fall on the shoulders of private businesses, homes and privately owned infrastructure instead of the state. Hotels and restaurants have suffered the worst damage. The Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund has collected Rs 13.23 billion ($87 million), of which the government has already released Rs 1 billion ($6.6 million), sent via the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. A separate Post-Disaster Needs Assessment is now underway to further refine public and private financing needs.
Read more: The Kathmandu Post (recovery package), myRepublica (fund breakdown)
India Sends 654 MW to Plug Flood Gap
New Delhi has approved up to 654 MW of extra power exports through the end of this calendar year to run 18 hours a day from midnight to 6pm over the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar (up to 600 MW) and Tanakpur-Mahendranagar (54 MW) lines. The extra supply is expected to fill a 350-400 MW hole left by the Bhotekoshi disaster which knocked out several hydropower projects including Trishuli 3A, Devighat and the Nepal’s largest solar farm, the Nuwakot Solar Electricity Project. Kulekhani's reservoir-based cascade, normally reserved for winter, has been running all three powerhouses around the clock since the flood, and as a result is draining Indra Sarobar by up 10 centimetres a day more than monsoon inflows are able to refill it. India says exports from January 2027 onward will be reviewed in December, so Kathmandu's dry-season problems are still a question mark until the new year.
Read more: The Kathmandu Post (costs), Spotlight Nepal (2027 review), The Kathmandu Post (reservoir levels)
Bailey Bridges Roll In, Army Flies Drones Out
The flood death toll has risen to 1,356. Almost 5,000 are still missing and 84,000 remain displaced. India has so far sent eight relief flights, more than 130 tonnes of supplies, and 54 rescue and forensic experts. It has also started trucking in parts for three Bailey bridges to allow for easier transport. France has sent shelter and medical supplies through the EU's Civil Protection Mechanism. Now that so many roads and bridges are gone and helicopters tied up in search and rescue, the Nepali Army is flying drones to get relief into some stranded communities.
Read more: Reuters, Iom, myRepublica, The Kathmandu Post, The Annapurna Express
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Krishnabhir Reopens on Shaky Ground
The Prithvi Highway's collapsed Krishnabhir stretch will reopen for two-way traffic on the first of next month. It will make use of a roughly 250-metre track cut into the slope above the wreckage where the Bhotekoshi flood has destroyed the roadbed. Infrastructure Minister Sunil Lamsal told Kantipur that "Krishnabhir could slide again," which is why crews are also paving a 12ish-km bypass connecting the Benighat and Fishling bridges before Dashain. A tunnel study will follow after the monsoon has passed.
Read more: Ratopati (geotechnical tests), The Kathmandu Post (bypass construction), myRepublica (industry minister meeting)
Korala Crossing Picks Up the China Trade
Korala customs took in Rs 1.5 billion ($9.9 million) in the 15 days after the Bhotekoshi flood shut the Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani crossings, and the Nechung office in Lomanthang is clearing about 50 containers a day, which is ten times the normal volume. The cargo is being rerouted from the two shuttered points from as far away as Shigatse and Lhasa. Nepal's side of the border is still making use of temporary facilities.
Read more: The Kathmandu Post
Property Deals Nearly Double
Real estate transactions were Rs 720 billion ($4.74 billion) through fiscal year 2025/26, which can be compared to the Rs 386 billion ($2.54 billion) in the year before. The fourth quarter brought in Rs 275 billion ($1.81 billion), which is also more than double the Rs 127.61 billion ($839.5 million) from a year earlier. Bagmati Province, which is home to Kathmandu, led the rise, with transaction values up 175 percent and land area under deal up 50 percent in Q4. Capital gains tax from property deals helped fill government coffers by increasing 63 percent. Bank lending to real estate crept up 7 percent, which is similar to the previous year's pace of 6 percent growth.
Read more: Online Khabar
Kathmandu Puts Malaysia Recruiter List on Notice
Nepal's Department of Foreign Employment has given 275 recruitment agencies seven days to explain how they made the cut. The department wants to know who recommended and approved the selections, whether the arrangement squeezes out competition from Nepal's licensed agencies, and whether any illegal money changed hands to get a spot. Since August 22, DoFE has stopped clearing demand letters filed through these agencies, and recruitment is only allowed under quotas that Malaysia gave before that date. The foreign ministry has sent a diplomatic note asking Kuala Lumpur to go back to the previous system, and the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies is bringing its complaint to the ILO.
Read more: The Kathmandu Post
Parliament Targets Shorter NRB Governor Term
The Finance Committee has proposed cutting the Nepal Rastra Bank governor's term from five years to three, with the Cabinet given the power to decide whether to grant a two-year extension or not based on performance. Deputy governor terms and those of three independent directors would be under the same reset rules. Every governor since the 2002 Nepal Rastra Bank Act has served a full five-year term. Former governor Yubaraj Khatiwada, who weathered pressure from both the government and anti-graft investigators during his tenure, said the proposal was a recipe for "short-term and unstable" leadership at the central bank.
Read more: The Kathmandu Post
Smart Licenses Stall on Provincial Delays
Since August 1, the Security Printing Center has stopped issuing smart driving licenses, as it waits for agreements that are needed from each of the seven provinces before printing can restart. Only Madhesh Province has done anything to date, and even that has simply been an extension of last year's deal instead of coming up with a new contract. The other provinces have sent nothing. The Department of Transport Management says that it’s fast-tracking files for migrant workers and students who already passed their road tests, but that's a workaround, not a fix. Deputy Secretary Gopalraj Timilsina says printing will be allowed to restart once all the provinces report their allocated budgets and exact license numbers.
Read more: Ratopati
Chitwan Highway Upgrade Open for Bids
International bidding opened September 4 to widen the 70-km Narayangadh-Hetauda highway to four lanes. The centerpiece of the rebuild will be a two-km flyover through Tikauli forest that will have traffic running overhead on pillars so that wildlife can cross unmolested below. The ADB is bankrolling the Rs 5.5 billion ($36 million) structure with a Rs 3 billion ($19.7 million) grant and concessional loans are expected to cover the rest. The bidding will take more than seven months before contracts are signed, after which winning contractors will have three and a half years to complete their work. Seven bridges are also planned along the route.
Read more: The Kathmandu Post
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