KATHMANDU: Nepal received foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments worth Rs 35 billion during the first three months of the current fiscal year 2025/26, according to the Department of Industry.

From mid-July to mid-October, the department approved 311 projects with a total committed investment of Rs 35.13 billion.

From mid-September to mid-October alone, 54 projects received commitments amounting to Rs 4.94 billion. Of the total commitments, there were seven large-scale, four medium-scale, and 300 small-scale industries.

The department said that most of the commitments were made in small industries. The tourism sector attracted the highest number of commitments, with 103 tourism-related industries receiving FDI commitments worth Rs 1.46 billion.

Similarly, 15 manufacturing industries received commitments worth Rs 2.11 billion, 11 agriculture-based industries received Rs 40 million, and 19 service-oriented industries received Rs 180 million in FDI commitments.

The information technology sector alone saw commitments for 162 companies, totaling Rs 153.7 million.

Since the beginning of FDI approval in Nepal, a total of 7,550 industries have been approved with investment commitments equivalent to Rs 686.55 billion.

Despite high commitments, the actual inflow of investment remains low. According to the department, in the previous fiscal year 2024/25, Nepal received Rs 12.01 billion in actual FDI against commitments worth Rs 65 billion.