World Bank water and energy tenders in Nepal: recent winners and how to bid

The World Bank published 323 procurement notices for Nepal between 1 October 2025 and 14 October 2026: 178 contract awards, 102 requests for expression of interest, 41 invitations for bids and 2 general procurement notices. Roads dominate; the Provincial and Local Roads Improvement Program alone accounts for 101. By keywords in the notice title we tagged 24 as water or sanitation and 11 as energy or power. A few irrigation works, such as canal and river protection packages, do not use those keywords, so we cover them separately.

Project	Buyer	What was bought	Who won
Water Sector Governance and Infrastructure Support Project (P176589)	Project units under the Ministry of Water Supply	17 water supply works contracts in Kailali, Doti and Salyan	Nepali contractors, mostly joint ventures; one Indian partner
Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project, Phase 3 (P507433)	Department of Water Resources and Irrigation	A 13 km canal extension, river protection works, design and supervision	A Nepali–Chinese joint venture (works); a Nepali consulting team (supervision)
Private Sector-Led Mini-Grid Energy Access Project (P149239)	Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC)	Waste-to-energy and energy efficiency studies, training, a biogas plant refurbishment	Nepali consultancies; one Indian supplier
Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project (P501985)	Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)	So far consultant calls and vehicles; substations, lines and smart meters are planned	One vehicle award so far
Kathmandu Valley Water Security Improvement Project (P517244)	Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board	Dam design, environmental studies and specialists for the Sisneri water supply project	Mostly still at the expression-of-interest stage

Water supply works: mid-sized contracts, won by Nepali contractors. In March and April 2026 the World Bank published awards for 17 water supply works contracts under the Water Sector Governance and Infrastructure Support Project: 10 in Kailali, 4 in Dipayal Silgadhi (Doti) and 3 in Sharada (Salyan), all under Request for Bids. Together they were signed for NPR 2.71 billion, from NPR 37.8 million (Sirkhaulisen, Doleshwor Mahadev Nirman) to NPR 377.7 million (Jharkhu Phase I, Hanuman Construction with Nir Drilling and Construction). Every lead contractor was Nepali and 10 of the 17 went to joint ventures. The only foreign winner was Kashmirilal Constructions (India), partnering Paradise Builders on three Kailali schemes worth NPR 108.1 million, 177.9 million and 230.0 million. Repeat winners include Uchchakoti Nirman Sewa (Gairigaun and Shree Thakurdwara, about NPR 134 million to 138 million each) and Jayshree Balaji Nirman Tatha Drilling, a partner in three winning teams. Other bidders were nearly all Nepali, with Indian firms on several contracts and one Chinese firm on Jharkhu. Margins are thin: on Jharkhu and Khairabang the winning evaluated bid was about 2% below the next-lowest (NPR 312.0 million against 318.8 million, and NPR 147.5 million against 150.4 million).

Two cautions when you use these notices. First, in 16 of the 17 the signed contract price is 16% to 34% above the evaluated bid price, and the notices do not say why, so compare evaluated prices with evaluated prices. Second, publication lags: these awards were published in March and April 2026, but the award notifications they report date from 3 July 2025 to 15 April 2026.

Irrigation: one large international contract. The Pathraiya Extension Canal contract (about 13 km of canal with aqueducts, syphons and regulators in Kailali, 3 years) was bid internationally, with rated criteria and price weighted 50% each. It went to Kumar Shrestha Nirman Sewa (Nepal) with Zhongding International Engineering (China) for NPR 2,505.5 million signed. Their evaluated bid of NPR 2,157.5 million was also the lowest, about 7% below the next (NPR 2,318.0 million). Other bidders came from Nepal, India and China, and several were rejected as non-responsive or for failing the minimum technical score. Bids closed on 16 February 2026 and the award was notified on 23 September 2026. Design and supervision of the canal (QCBS, 72 months) went to CMS Engineering Consult with Environment and Resource Management Consultant and Fullbright Consultancy, all Nepali, for USD 449,175 plus NPR 255.1 million, ahead of teams that paired Nepali firms with MSV International, Pini Group, Temelsu and SMEC International.

Energy: small consulting jobs now, grid works coming. AEPC hires under Consultant's Qualification Selection, and Nepali firms win: Rastriya Urja Dakshata Kendra took two studies (NPR 5.59 million and 1.68 million), and Multiscope-Minergy JV (NPR 13.5 million) and Urja Consult-Yasaswi Engineering Solution JV (NPR 11.8 million) the waste-to-energy feasibility studies. The cycle is fast: one study was advertised on 22 July 2026 and awarded on 21 August. NEA's general procurement notice for the Electricity Supply Reliability Improvement Project describes US$120 million of financing, including about US$101 million for new 33/11 kV substations, lines, feeders and transformers and about US$17 million for smart meters, across five provinces. So far NEA has sought a substation supervision consultant (national firms only) and a project management consultant for feeder automation and smart meters, and published one award, for pick-up trucks (Agni Incorporated, NPR 17.2 million). The substation, line and metering contracts are the ones to watch.

Kathmandu Valley: dam design. Calls for expressions of interest for the detailed design of the Sisneri dam (144 person-months, from January 2027) and its environmental and social impact assessment (97 person-months) closed on 15 and 14 October 2026. The design call scores experience with dams at least 35 m high and work outside the firm's home country, which favours international firms or teams that include them.

How to bid in Nepal. You bid to the Nepali implementing agency named in the notice, not to the World Bank. The past year's notices show the usual steps:

Buy the bidding document: send a written application and pay the non-refundable fee (NPR 20,000 on the canal, river protection and Bheri pumping packages) into the revenue account given in the notice.
Register on Nepal's e-GP portal (bolpatra.gov.np, Public Procurement Monitoring Office) for electronic bids. The Bheri Pumping Package II notice required registration there, a scan of the fee voucher with the bid, and submission by the lead member of a joint venture.
Check the submission mode: Bheri Package II was electronic only, the Pathraiya canal accepted hard copy or e-GP, and the river protection works hard copy only, with a pre-bid meeting in Tikapur.
Expect two envelopes on larger works: the technical part is opened at the deadline, the financial part only after technical evaluation.
Budget for security and declarations: Bheri Package II (an 800 km distribution network with a 1,500 m³ reservoir and SCADA) needed a USD 400,000 bid security, a sexual exploitation and abuse/sexual harassment declaration and a local labour method statement. Winners must disclose beneficial ownership.
Consultants: answer the expression-of-interest criteria (years in business, similar assignments, technical and managerial capacity) and check eligibility; some NEA calls are for national firms only.

Practical takeaways:

Nepali contractors: water supply schemes in Sudurpaschim and Karnali are a steady pipeline of NPR 38 million to 378 million works, mostly won by joint ventures.
Foreign contractors: team with a Nepali firm, as Kashmirilal Constructions and Zhongding International Engineering did, or compete on the large international packages.
Equipment suppliers: watch NEA's substation and smart-meter tenders, and sell pipes, pumps and SCADA to the contractors that win water schemes.

See what is open across the region on all current tenders, this week's tenders, top 10 open water and sanitation tenders and energy and power tenders. Bidding next door? Read World Bank energy and water tenders in India. New to award notices? Read how to read a contract award notice, or start a free Pro trial to get new Nepal notices by email every morning.

Figures: AsiaTender Watch analysis of World Bank procurement notices (World Bank procurement notices API, search.worldbank.org, and the World Bank Procurement Notices dataset, financesone.worldbank.org/d/DS00979, CC BY 4.0) for Nepal, published 1 Oct 2025 to 14 Oct 2026 (323 notices), pulled 17 Oct 2026. Contract values, dates, bidder details and bidding rules are as stated in the individual notices. Keyword tagging is approximate.

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