KATHMANDU, April 30: The Department of Industry (DoI) has approved investments totaling Rs 9.13 billion for four different projects as part of the Third Nepal Investment Summit 2024.

These investments include Rs 6 billion for establishing an investment company in Bhaktapur, Rs 3 billion for a business complex building in Kathmandu, Rs 76.6 million for a 200 KW hydropower project in Kailali, and Rs 62.5 million for the construction of hotels and restaurants in Lalitpur district, as per information provided by Shankar Singh Dhami, Director of the foreign investment and technology transfer unit under the DoI.

Earlier on Monday, the DoI inaugurated the system of foreign investment approval through the automatic route. Accordingly, foreign investors can apply for establishing a new company with 100 per cent share ownership or joint venture or investment capital in an already operating company through automatic route.

Foreign investors can now apply through this system starting today and will receive the letter of approval for foreign investment as soon as they submit their application. There is no specified minimum investment limit for approving foreign investment through the automatic route for information technology-based industries.

The automatic route is expected to save the investors' time and money required for making investments in Nepal.