Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal received foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments worth Rs 8.98 billion for 109 projects in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), the second month of the current fiscal year 2025/26.
According to the Department of Industry, these ventures have pledged to create 25,167 new jobs.
With this, total FDI approvals over the first two months of the current fiscal year have reached Rs 33.09 billion for 236 projects. These projects have proposed to create 33,814 jobs.
Of the 109 projects that received FDI approval in the review month, 100 were small-scale industries, five were large-scale and four were medium-scale industries.
The agro and forestry sector attracted the largest share of committed investment over the first two months of 2025/26, accounting for 65% of the total pledged amount. Tourism followed with 20%, services with 8%, manufacturing with 4%, information and communication technology (ICT) with 2%, and energy with 1%. Agro and forestry received FDI commitment of Rs 21.98 billion, followed by tourism (Rs 6.69 billion), services (Rs 2.81 billion), manufacturing (Rs 1.24 billion), ICT (Rs 562.75 million), and energy (Rs 184.25 million).
In terms of the number of projects, however, ICT led the tally with 120 projects approved over the first two months. Tourism ranked second with 79 projects, followed by services (15), manufacturing (12), agro and forestry (9) and energy (1).
Nepal had received FDI commitments of Rs 65.96 billion for 840 projects in the previous fiscal year 2024/25.
Although funds committed by foreign investors look significant, only about a third of this actually translates into actual investment. According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), only 37.89% of total FDI pledged over the past decade materialized. Between 2014/15 and 2023/24, Nepal received commitments worth Rs 395.92 billion, of which just Rs 126.29 billion was actually invested.
