India ready to consider Nepal's flood rebuilding proposals, foreign secretary says

India ready to consider flood rebuilding proposals, foreign secretary says in Kathmandu

India is ready to consider assistance or project proposals for rebuilding infrastructure damaged by the Bhotekoshi floods, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Kathmandu on Wednesday, OnlineKhabar reported. Initial discussions have taken place, he said. The report gives no amount.

Misri arrived that day for a two-day visit and met a Nepali delegation led by Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, ahead of the Prime Minister's planned India visit. He also made a courtesy call on Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle. The two discussed economic cooperation, the minister's secretariat said, and it reported no figures or outcome.

Nepal's request, reported by Kantipur on Tuesday, is for more than $2 billion, including over $1 billion in credit, a $500 million highway grant and $500 million for flood reconstruction.

The talks cannot conclude during this visit, former ambassador Shankar Sharma said in The Kathmandu Post. A finance ministry official the Post did not name expects any announcement during the Prime Minister's visit. The Post says that visit is most likely on November 22; it has not been announced. Sharma also said Nepal could not fully use its 2014 and 2015 Indian loans because of Indian sourcing conditions.

Why it matters: Nothing has been agreed. The reports read give no figure from the Indian side, no loan terms, and no word on whether sourcing conditions would apply to new credit.

New heads of NEPSE, the deposit guarantee fund and the insurance regulator take up their letters and oath

Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle gave appointment letters on Wednesday to Pratap Subedi, chief executive of the Nepal Stock Exchange, and Pitambar Bhandari, chief executive of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund. He also swore in Rajan Bikram Thapa as chairman of the Nepal Insurance Authority, Kantipur reported.

The Cabinet made all three appointments at its Tuesday meeting. Wagle told Bhandari to protect depositors' money. Bhandari is a former Nepal Rastra Bank executive director, Bizshala reported.

None of the reports gives a term or a start date.

Anti-cyber scam centre to start on Friday with time limits for freezing funds, OnlineKhabar reports

The Home Ministry's anti-cyber scam centre, with police, central bank, bank and telecom staff, starts work on Friday, OnlineKhabar reported. It aims to freeze defrauded money within 10 to 60 minutes; refunds need a court order. The hotline number is not final.

NEPSE edges up 1.40 points to 2,665.53 as turnover rises and most companies fall

NEPSE closed at 2,665.53 on Wednesday, up 1.40 points or 0.05 percent, Kantipur reported. Turnover was above Rs 7 billion, up from Rs 5.65 billion on Tuesday. OnlineKhabar put it at Rs 7.43 billion and The Kathmandu Post at Rs 7.37 billion.

The rise was narrow. OnlineKhabar counted 98 companies up, 171 down and nine unchanged, with the Others group up 6.18 percent on Nepal Reinsurance and Himalayan Reinsurance. Only that group, Trading and Life Insurance rose.

The banking sub-index fell 13 points to 1,588, the Post reported. Commercial banks took 16 percent of turnover, against about 27 percent over the previous five sessions.

SEBON approves NIC Asia Bank's 50 percent rights issue, Bizshala reports

The securities board has approved NIC Asia Bank's rights issue of one new share for every two held, 74,587,835 shares at Rs 100, or about Rs 7.46 billion, Bizshala reported. No opening date was given.

Prime Minister's Office says Nepal Telecom added 11,764 fibre customers in 18 days, Kantipur reports

Nepal Telecom gained 11,764 new fibre customers in 18 days, the Prime Minister's Office said on Facebook, Kantipur reported. In all of Kattik last year it added 2,981. The figures could not be checked with Nepal Telecom.

LP gas industry rejects a 30 percent commercial share and ties mergers to a tax waiver, Merolagani reports

The Nepal LP Gas Industry Association has rejected the plan to set aside 30 percent of monthly gas for commercial use, about 1,056,000 cylinders, as impractical, Merolagani reported. It wants a test from 10 percent; its chairman spoke of 8 to 10 percent of what each company lifts. Its letter to Nepal Oil Corporation had yet to go.

The association also objects to mergers without a tax waiver. Under Section 57 of the Income Tax Act, the report says, an ownership change of 50 percent or more over three years counts as a deemed sale, which creates capital gains and income tax liability. The chairman called the ministry's letter a request, not a directive.

Existing 14.2 kg cylinders would be coloured red for households and blue for commercial use. A red and blue scheme announced in 2013 never ran, The Kathmandu Post reported in September.

Why it matters: Commercial users take 30 percent of the gas consumed, and the corporation loses Rs 411 on each cylinder sold to them at the household price, the Post reported. No start date for the lower share has been given.

Project office now expects the Siddhababa tunnel to open by mid-January

The project office expects the Rs 7.34 billion Siddhababa tunnel to open by mid-January, The Kathmandu Post reported; Kantipur said Poush. In September the target was mid-December.

Assessor puts Nepal Oil Corporation's ERP system at about 88 percent complete

University Consult, Kathmandu University's consulting arm, puts the corporation's Rs 228.71 million ERP at about 88 percent of its requirements, OnlineKhabar reported. The 36-month contract was signed in July 2020.

Fitch team finishes on-site work for Nepal's third sovereign rating, Kantipur reports

A Fitch Ratings team has completed its on-site assessment for Nepal's third sovereign credit rating, Kantipur reported on Wednesday. The team met the finance minister, the central bank governor, private sector bodies and lenders including the World Bank, IMF and ADB.

The result will probably come in the first week of Mangsir, November 17 to 23, an official Kantipur did not name said. Officials expect the rating to hold or rise. Fitch has said nothing on that.

Nepal has been rated twice. Both ratings were BB-minus, on November 22, 2024 and November 18, 2025.

Why it matters: The report does not give the visit's calendar dates, and no publication date from Fitch itself was found.