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Kathmandu, Feb 2: The Government of India has increased the annual grant it provides to Nepal.

Presenting the central budget for the fiscal year 2026–27 in the Indian Parliament on Sunday, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated INR 8 billion for Nepal, equivalent to around NPR 12.8 billion. This is INR 1 billion more than the allocation in the previous fiscal year.

India has raised grants to Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and other countries with the aim of supporting economies going through recovery. In recent years, India’s grant allocation for Nepal has shown frequent fluctuations.

In the fiscal year 2024–25, India allocated INR 11.2 billion for Nepal. In 2023–24, the allocation stood at INR 8.8 billion.

For 2022–23, India had initially pledged a grant of INR 12 billion to Nepal, but this was later revised down to INR 6.8 billion.

In 2021–22, Nepal received INR 7.13 billion in grants from India.

The 14 percent increase in this year’s allocation signals that India continues to place high priority on its development partnership with Nepal.

Bhutan remains the largest recipient of Indian grants. Its allocation has been increased by 6 percent to INR 22.89 billion, reflecting India’s continued support for hydropower and infrastructure projects there.

India has also increased its grant to Sri Lanka by one third, raising it to INR 4 billion.

For Afghanistan, India has allocated INR 1.5 billion as humanitarian assistance.

In contrast, amid strained bilateral relations, India has reduced its grant to Bangladesh from INR 1.2 billion to INR 600 million.

Aid to the Maldives has been cut by 8 percent to INR 5.5 billion, while assistance to Mauritius has been increased by 10 percent to the same amount.

India has reduced its grant to Myanmar by 14 percent, allocating INR 3 billion.

Assistance to African countries has been kept unchanged at INR 2.25 billion, while grants to Latin America have been doubled to INR 1.2 billion.

Overall, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has an estimated total expenditure of INR 221.19 billion for 2026–27. Of this, INR 56.86 billion has been allocated under foreign assistance, around 4 percent higher than last year.

People’s News Monitoring Service