The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $40 million concessional loan to support Nepal’s efforts to accelerate digital transformation and expand access to high-impact digital services for citizens and businesses. The funding will help modernize public service delivery, improve efficiency, and support the country’s broader economic development goals through stronger digital infrastructure.
The Nepal Digital Transformation Project will focus on strengthening data hosting systems and cybersecurity infrastructure to enhance government-wide digital security and resilience. It will also support the development of essential digital public infrastructure, including an integrated citizen service portal, improvements to the national social registry, and the establishment of a secure government data exchange platform to enable safe and efficient information sharing across institutions.
In addition, the project will help digitalize around 11 high-impact government services, making them more accessible and user-friendly. These improvements aim to reduce administrative barriers, shorten waiting times, and increase transparency in government processes, ultimately helping to build greater trust between citizens and public institutions.
The initiative will be implemented by Nepal’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and aligns with the country’s key policy frameworks, including the Digital Nepal Framework 2.0, the Sixteenth National Plan, and the e-Governance Blueprint. It also supports ADB’s country partnership strategy for Nepal for 2025–2029, which identifies digital transformation as a major development priority.
The project is the first in South Asia to be cofinanced under the ADB–World Bank Full Mutual Reliance Framework, an approach designed to streamline project preparation and deliver development support more efficiently. Under this arrangement, the World Bank is the lead lender and approved a $50 million concessional loan for the project earlier in 2026, complementing ADB’s financing.
