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Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) will advance its pump‐storage programme to bolster energy security, having applied for a licence to conduct a pre‐feasibility study for a 594 MW project.

Executive Director Hitendra Dev Shakya reported that the NEA has approached the Ministry of Energy for studies on two pump‐storage facilities. Reviewing his first 100 days in office, he said prioritising pump storage has been a key achievement.

The NEA has prepared pre‐feasibility proposals for the 100 MW Kulekhani–Sisneri and the 494 MW Hulingtar–Dumkim projects. To ensure reliable supply, it has also launched an initiative to assess and support a battery energy storage system (BESS) alongside the pump‐storage schemes. Meanwhile, licensing for the Uttar Ganga and Upper Arun hydropower projects has progressed.

Shakya noted that, facing a payment obligation of Rs 14bn, the Authority will secure short‐term loans. He attributed delays in the Hetauda–Dhalkebar transmission line to funding constraints. He added that foundational reforms and long‐term plans set in motion during his initial 100 days will now be fast‐tracked. Projects under way include the Nijgadh–Pokhariya line, the Balaju–Maharajgunj (via Singha Durbar) route, and the Dudhkoshi transmission corridor.

To resolve disputes over dedicated and trunk‐line tariffs, the NEA has received 46 review applications; a committee is working to finalise these soon.

For Kathmandu Valley’s power stability, the Distribution Control Center in Syuchatar will now monitor 17 feeders connected to various switching stations and substations around the clock.

Under a Public–Private Partnership model, the NEA has issued an Expression of Interest for a 400/200 kV transmission line to integrate private-sector generation into the national grid rapidly.

Through its Energy Mix Programme, the NEA sought proposals for 960 MW of solar capacity via competitive procurement. Of 63 shortlisted projects, it has signed Power Purchase Agreements totalling 170 MW with eight companies.

On Tuesday morning, flooding in Bhotekoshi, Rasuwa forced the shutdown of 240 MW of output—230 MW from NEA plants and 10 MW from the private Mailung Khola facility. The 111 MW Rasuwagadhi plant suffered the worst damage, followed by the 60 MW Trishuli 3A project. While most stations will resume generation once waters recede, Rasuwagadhi and Trishuli 3A will require extended repairs.

Tourists on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar via Nepal are bearing the brunt of a lengthy VISA verification process.

Nepali tour operators have complained that around 3000 tourists are stuck in Kathmandu as the Chinese Embassy is taking more than 10 days for VISA verification. The VISA process that used to take three days in the past is now taking 10 days with no guarantee of VISA approval, forcing tourists to wait for the Mansarovar pilgrimage in various hotels in Kathmandu.

Ramesh Ojha, Managing Director of Ojha Holiday Tours and Treks Pvt. Ltd., said that the new policy regarding VISA verification has put tourism entrepreneurs in trouble during the ' tourist season'.

To make matters worse, the recent floods in Rasuwa has forced tour operators to change the route to Mansarovar as the road via the Kerung route from Rasuwagadhi is shut. Majority of Indian tourists were going to Mansarovar via this route. High-spending tourists including citizens of Indian origin living in various countries, however, use air transport to reach Mansarovar via Simikot in Humla and from Kathmandu via Lhasa in China.

More than half a dozen tour operators including Ojha Holidays, Richa Travels and Tours, Eco Trek, Heritage Tours and Travel, Sunny Travel, Trekkers' Society, and others are the most popular ones offering the Kailash Mansarovar tour package for tourists.

Namaraj Joshi, the owner of Leisure Port in Mumbai, India, expressed concern over having to wait for VISA in Kathmandu for 10 days with a group of 39 people.

The issue had also been raised by Members of Parliament in the meeting of the House of Representatives, International Relations and Tourism Committee on July 6. They drew the attention of Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey to the fact that hundreds of foreign nationals were waiting in hotels due to delays in the VISA process to Mansarovar.

In response, Minister Pandey had committed to taking initiatives with the Chinese Embassy through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the VISA process for tourists going to Mansarovar via Nepal.

Foreigners acquire entry permission from Lhasa, and get their VISA within three days of handing over the passport for verification. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu does the VISA verification after the applicants arrive in person.

According to tour operators, tourists going to Mansarovar in Tibet via Nepal account for about 20 percent of the total tourists going to the sacred Hindu religious site.

 “We are the worst hit due to the delay in VISA verification as we have to manage the tourists' lengthened stay, which is costing us more than what we earn by managing the running tour package,” complained Surya Pathak, Managing Director of Soham Journeys Pvt. Ltd.

Recalling that his company used to send 3,000 tourists in a season, Pathak said that this year it would barely reach 1,000 tourists. In 2019, the company had taken nearly 4,000 people on the Mansarovar Yatra.

The season for visiting Kailash Mansarovar is about five months from May to September.

According to the Association of Kailash Tour Operators, an umbrella organization of 30 tour operators, around 25,000 tourists visit Mansarovar via Nepal annually. Since the Nepalgunj-Simikot-Hilsa route is the closest to reach there a significant number of tourists prefer to use this route.

Tour companies have stated that it costs Indian citizens Rs. 250,000 to 300,000 and at least Rs. 1 million for non-resident Indians to visit Mansarovar.

A large number of Non-resident Indians (NRIs) living in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia use Nepal as a transit to make a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar.

Private sector credit by banks and financial institutions expanded by eight percent, or Rs 407.62bn, in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, marking a significant recovery from 5.1 percent growth in the same period of fiscal year 2023-24. Credit growth fell to 3.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2022-23 from 13.5 percent in the same period of 2021-22 and 24.9 percent in 2020-21.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), credit expansion, which had been on a downward trend since 2020-21, has shown signs of recovery in recent years. Although credit growth has reached the highest in the past three years, it is still below the growth target set by the monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy for 2024-25 has targeted 12.5 percent credit growth.

The central bank has attributed the uptick in credit flow in the current fiscal year to a gradual improvement in economic activities after a prolonged slowdown.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, NRB had introduced a range of relief measures, which led to a surge in credit growth in fiscal years 2020-21 and 2021-22. Credit flow increased by 26.8 percent in 2020-21 compared to 13.6 percent in 2019-20. However, credit flow started slowing after the central bank tightened monetary policy in subsequent years. It fell to 13.5 percent in 2021-22 and 3.5 percent in 2022-23. It slightly improved to 5.75 percent in 2023-24. 

According to the central bank, industrial production loans grew by 8.2 percent, construction sector loans by 12.9 percent, wholesale and retail trade loans by 5.2 percent, transport, communications, public services loans by 13.5 percent, service industries by 8.8 percent, and consumption loans by 10.9 percent in 11 months of 2024-25.

Among loan types, term loans grew by 5.1 percent, while margin loans jumped by a whopping 42.8 percent. At the same time, trust receipt loans rose by a massive 62.2 percent, hire purchase loans by 5.5 percent, cash credit by 0.6 percent, real estate loans (including personal housing) by 5 percent while overdraft loans went down by 13.2 percent.

Economists say the government's low spending capacity and the tendency to ramp up spending only in the final month of the fiscal year (mid-June to mid-July) have constrained demand. However, they said that rising imports in recent months have led to an increase in credit uptake.

According to the NRB, merchandise imports grew by 13.1 percent to Rs 1,644.8bn in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year 2024-25, compared to a decline of 1.8 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year. 

Nvidia has become the first company in the world to reach a market value of $4tn, BBC reported.

Shares in the chip-maker rose by as much as 2.4% to $164 on Wednesday, as the company continues to benefit from the ongoing surge in demand for the tech that powers artificial intelligence (AI).

The US-based company reached a market value of $1tn for the first time in June 2023, and has continued to climb rapidly since.

Tech analyst Dan Ives, of Wedbush Securities, said in a note that was in a historic moment for Nvidia.

"They are the only game in town with their chips the new gold and oil," he wrote, according to BBC.