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In what could be termed an eventful year for the domestic power sector, a total of 351.24 MW of electricity has been connected to the national grid in the current fiscal year. With electricity generated from 20 power projects being connected to the national transmission system, the total installed capacity in the country has reached 2,619.24 MW by the first week of March 2023. The fiscal year 2022/23 saw Nepal's largest private sector-developed project Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) Hydroelectric Project starting its commercial operation. The Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) Project is the country's largest power project developed by the private sector to date. Developed by Sahas Urja Limited, the 86 MW Solukhola Project began commercial operation on March 1. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Spokesperson Suresh Bhattarai said that the number of projects to be connected to the national system has been increasing in recent times. NEA has projected an additional 811 MW of electricity will be added to the national grid in the current fiscal year. The state-owned power utility expects the 111 MW Rasuwagadhi, 57.3 MW Sanjen and Upper Sanjen, 102 MW Madhya Bhotekoshi, and 54 MW Super Dordi to come online by the end of this fiscal year. With the start of commercial operation, the Solukhola (Dhudkoshi) is the third largest hydroelectric project currently in operation in Nepal. The largest hydropower project in operation in Nepal is Upper Tamakoshi with an installed capacity of 456 MW. The second largest project, Kaligandaki Hydropower A, has a capacity of 144 MW. However, both are government-owned projects. Sahas Energy Limited received a license to develop Solukhola (Dhudkoshi) from the Department of Electricity Development (DoED) on September 17, 2014 and started construction of the run-of-river project in February 2018. The total cost of the project was Rs 11.86 billion. A consortium of 10 banks and financial institutions headed by the Nepal Investment Bank (now Nepal Investment Mega Bank) disbursed loans amounting to Rs 8.65 billion to the project. The company's promoters' equity was Rs 2.45 billion while Rs 1.05 billion was raised from the capital market. The commencement of commercial operation of Solukhola (Dudhkoshi) has been termed a milestone by the independent power producers. Krishna Prasad Acharya, Chairman of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN), said that the construction of the 86 MW project by the private sector is a significant achievement. "At a time when the private sector was struggling to develop a 5-10 MW project, Sahas Urja attempted a big hydroelectric project which has now started commercial production," said Acharya, adding, "The private sector's contribution to electricity generation in Nepal is significant. Therefore, the government needs to further support the private sector." Him Prasad Pathak, President of Sahas Urja said that the project has been brought to completion overcoming many challenges. "We succeeded in bringing the project into commercial operation despite challenges. This has encouraged us to develop large projects up to 500 MW with domestic investments in the future," he said. Power Project connected to national grid in this fiscal

Project	Developer	Capacity
Simara Solar Project	Api Power Company	1 MW
Grid Connected Solar PV Project	National Solar Power Co. Pvt. Ltd	5 MW
Dordi Khola HEP	Himalayan Power Partner  Pvt. Ltd	27 MW
Chepe Khola Small	Aashutosh Energy Pvt. Ltd	8.63 MW
Dordi-1 Khola	Dordi Khola Jal Bidhyut Company	12 MW
Upper Balefi A	Balefi Hydropower Company	36 MW
Lower Likhu	Swetganga Hydropower and Construction Ltd	28.1 MW
Dordi-A	Liberty Energy	25 MW
Mayakhola	Mayakhola Hydropower Company	14.9 MW
Solu Dudhkoshi	Sahas Urja Ltd	86 MW
Saiti Khola	Saidi Power	0.99 MW
Som Radhakrishna Solar Farm	Nepal Solar Farm	4 MW
Puwa-2	Peoples Power	4.96 MW
Middle Modi	Middle Modi Hydropower	15.1 MW
Mid Solu Khola	Mid Solu Hydropower	9.5 MW
Kalangagad	Kalanga Hydro Pvt. Ltd	15.33 MW
Upper Kalangagad	Sanigad Hydro	38.46 MW
Upper Machhakhola	Bikas Hydropower Company	4.55 MW
Upper Piluwakhola	Menchhiyam Hydropower	4.72 MW
Makarigad	Makarigad Hydropower	10 MW
Total		351.24 MW

  DOED issues construction licenses to 17 projects The Department of Electricity Development (DoED) has issued construction licenses to 17 hydropower projects with a combined capacity of 519.24 MW till mid-February 2023. Similarly, DOED has issued survey licenses to 14 hydropower companies with a combined capacity of 1,412.07 MW in the current fiscal year. The department has also issued survey licenses to 12 companies that have proposed to generate 236.9 MW of solar electricity.  

While Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are seeing a surge in the number of Chinese visitors since February, Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs are still waiting for the inclusion of Nepal in the Chinese government's list for outbound group tours. Nepal was excluded when China first published the list of outbound destinations for Chinese citizens in January this year after the country abandoned the strict travel measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite China not including Nepal in its list of outbound travel destination countries, there has been a growth in the number of Chinese nationals visiting Nepal in February. A total of 2,266 visitors from the northern neighbor came to Nepal in February compared to 1,426 in January. Travel agencies involved in bringing Chinese tourists said they are waiting for the inclusion of Nepal in the Chinese outbound group tours list. According to them, there have been increasing inquiries from Chinese travel agencies of late. While there is growth in the FITs (free independent travelers) in recent months, group travelers from the northern neighbor are yet to visit Nepal. "There are no group tour movements from the northern neighbor," said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels, which specializes in Chinese tourists. "We are waiting for the Chinese government to include Nepal's name in the list of countries where Chinese can travel." Once China includes Nepal in the list, travel trade entrepreneurs said they can start their preparations in Nepal as well as in China. According to them, travel agencies in China have started their homework about Nepal, especially the new hotels added last year, and the cost part. "The Chinese travel agencies have started collecting information," said Shrestha. When China announced the reopening of outbound travel for its citizens, travel trade entrepreneurs in Nepal were quite hopeful of welcoming a good number of Chinese guests in 2023. The Chinese Ministry for Culture and Tourism on January 20 issued the first list of the 20 countries where Chinese tourists could travel. China had included Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba, and Argentina as an outbound destination for Chinese citizens. The Global Times, an influential Chinese newspaper, China's outbound travel has reported a rapid rebound in the month since the country resumed cross-border group tours on February 6, with more passenger trips and increased flight capacity. Asian countries and regions are among the most popular tourist destinations, taking more than 80 percent of the growth, with Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia ranking as the top three destinations in terms of outbound passenger trips from mainland China. The missing of Nepal from the list, according to Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs could affect the government's target of welcoming 1 million tourists in 2023. Before the pandemic-related travel restrictions began in early 2020 in Nepal and across the world, China was the second largest source market for Nepal after India as the country welcomed 169,543 tourists from the northern neighbor in 2019. A total of 1.19 million foreign tourists visited Nepal in 2019 before the pandemic disrupted global tourism. According to travel trade entrepreneurs, a significant contribution of Chinese tourists would be required if Nepal wants to meet the target of 1 million in 2023. In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China. Nepal welcomed only 9,595 Chinese tourists in 2022. With Chinese airlines also resuming their Nepal operations, travel trade entrepreneurs said air connectivity is no more issue now. While China Southern and Air China are already operating their flights to Kathmandu, Sichuan Airlines is resuming its Kathmandu flights on March 20. “There is no problem for Chinese tourists to visit Nepal,” said a tour operator.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 101, 000 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 101, 500 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 100, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 101, 000. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,220 per tola today.

Commercial banks have disbursed 28.88 percent of their total loans to the priority sectors in the first half of the current fiscal year. The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has identified agriculture, energy, and micro, cottage, small, and medium industries (MCSMI) as 'prescribed sectors'. According to NRB statistics, of the total lending of Rs 4,276.33 billion, banks have invested Rs 1,235 billion in these sectors till the first half of FY 2022/23. Of the total loans to the priority sectors, 13.09 percent went to the agriculture sector, 6.29 percent to the energy sector, and 9.51 percent for the MCSMI sector. Of the 22 commercial banks, only five banks have extended credit to the agriculture sector beyond the minimum threshold by mid-January 2023. Similarly, the extension of credit of only three banks is above the threshold in the energy sector and four banks' credit is above the threshold in the MCSMI sector. As per NRB guidelines, the banks have to extend at least 13 percent of their total loans to the agricultural sector, 7 percent to the energy sector, and 12 percent to the MCSMI sector. In total, banks have to extend 32 percent of their total loans to these priority sectors by the end of the current fiscal year. The central bank statistics show banks' credit disbursement to the agriculture sector is as per the NRB's threshold while that to the energy sector is close to the threshold. However, credit disbursement to the MCSMI sector is well below the threshold. Bankers admit that it is a challenge to provide loans to the MCSMI sector as per the NRB threshold by the end of this fiscal year. While the prolonged liquidity crunch has hit the banks' credit expansion this fiscal, the MCSMI are also hard hit by the rising price and slowdown in market demand, say bankers. According to them, it will be a tough task to increase credit flow to the MCSMI sector in the current macroeconomic environment. As of mid-January, 2023, only Agricultural Development Bank Limited, Himalayan Bank, Nepal SBI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal, and Sunrise Bank have their credit disbursement to the agriculture sector above the NRB threshold. In the energy sector, NMB Bank, Sunrise Bank and Sanima Bank have credit disbursement above the NRB threshold of 7 percent. Similarly, four banks - Agriculture Development Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Kumari Bank and NIC Asia Bank have credit disbursement above the threshold of 12 percent in the MCSMI sector. The state-owned banks fare better than private sector banks when it comes to priority sector lending. Among the commercial banks, Agriculture Development Bank's disbursement to the priority sectors is the highest. The bank has disbursed 57.50 percent of its total loans to the priority sectors. The ADBL has disbursed 28.35 percent of loans to the agriculture sector, 4.79 percent to the energy sector, and 24.36 percent to the MCSMI sector in this fiscal. Similarly, the lending of another state-owned bank - Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) to priority sectors stood at 36.98 percent. RBB has 12.16 percent of its total loans to the agriculture sector, 6.89 percent to the energy sector, and 17.93 percent to the MCSMI sector. Among the private sector banks, NMB Bank is ahead of others when it comes to lending to the priority sectors. The bank has 32.90 percent of its total loans to the priority sector. NMB Bank has disbursed 12.74 percent of its total loans to the agricultural sector, 8.94 percent to the energy sector, and 11.22 percent to the MCSMI sector.