9 billion 130 million worth of investment approved

During the third investment conference, investments worth Rs 9.13 billion have been approved for four different projects through the Department of Industry. According to the information provided by Shankar Singh Dhami, Director of Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Branch under the Department of Industry, six billion rupees for the establishment of an investment company in Bhaktapur, three billion rupees for the construction of a commercial building in Kathmandu, 85% investment by Akelus Energy Limited of United Kingdom and 15% investment by Mohanyal Rural Municipality of Kailali has been approved for the construction of 200 kilowatt capacity hydropower project worth Rs.76.6 million Rupees. And in Lalitpur district, an investment worth Rs. 6.25 million has been approved for the construction of hotels and restaurants.

The department has today inaugurated the system of foreign investment approval through the automatic route. According to the first amendment of the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Regulations, 2077, which was published on the 7th of May 2017, for the government to approve foreign investment through the automatic route, a foreign investor who has established a new company with 100% share ownership or joint venture or is operating under foreign investment shall invest capital in such a company. The system of submitting and approving the application for investment for growth through automatic route is maintained.

In view of the Third Investment Conference, the Department of Industry has prepared an electronic system for approving foreign investment through automatic channels. Foreign investors will be able to apply through the system from today and receive the letter of approval of foreign investment as soon as they submit their application. No minimum investment limit has been applied while approving foreign investment through automatic route for information technology based industries. When foreign investment is approved through this automatic route, it is expected that investors’ time and expenses will be saved and the investment environment will increase.