Where the money is actually going.
Publicly reported capital across the Himalayan projects HEF tracks — normalised to a single currency and a stated basis so the figures can be compared at all. Every number below traces to the project it came from.
Capital tracked
$23.8–26.5B
Across 9 of 19 tracked projects. This is the capital HEF has a cited figure for — not an estimate of total investment in the region.
What the total is made of
A signed financing package and a pre-sanction cost estimate are not the same claim. The split matters more than the headline.
- Total reported project value$3.6B3
- Committed financing package$635M3
- Pre-sanction cost estimate$19.5–22.2B3
By sector
- Transport$13.7B1
- Connectivity$5.8–8.5B2
- Energy$3.6B3
- Trade$300M1
- Urban & Resilience$245M1
- Digital$90M1
By geography
- India$14.0B2
- Nepal–China$2.8–5.5B1
- India–Nepal$3.0B1
- Bhutan$2.6B3
- Nepal$1.4B2
By financier
Where lenders are named, the project’s full value is attributed to each of them — the split between co-financiers is usually not disclosed. These figures therefore do not sum to the headline total, and are a measure of involvement rather than exposure.
- World Bank (IDA)$1.7B1
- IFC$1.7B1
- IBRD$1.7B1
- World Bank$635M3
- Adani Power$629M1
- Druk Green Power Corporation$629M1
- Asian Development Bank$90M1
Every tracked commitment
| Project | Sector | Basis | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilaspur–Manali–Leh RailwayIndia | Transport | Pre-sanction cost estimate | $13.7B *as reported: ₹1.31 Lakh Cr |
| Kerung–Kathmandu RailwayNepal–China | Connectivity | Pre-sanction cost estimate | $2.8–5.5B *as reported: $2.75–5.5 billion |
| Raxaul–Kathmandu RailwayIndia–Nepal | Connectivity | Pre-sanction cost estimate | $3.0B *as reported: ~$3 billion |
| Dorjilung Hydroelectric Power ProjectBhutan | Energy | Total reported project value | $1.7Bas reported: $1.7B |
| Lower Arun Hydropower ProjectNepal | Energy | Total reported project value | $1.3Bas reported: USD 1.3 billion |
| Wangchhu Hydroelectric ProjectBhutan | Energy | Total reported project value | $629M *as reported: ~INR 60 billion |
| Eastern Himalayan Trade Connectivity (ACCESS Programme)Bhutan | Trade | Committed financing package | $300Mas reported: $300M |
| Resilient HimachalIndia | Urban & Resilience | Committed financing package | $245Mas reported: $245M |
| Nepal Digital Transformation ProjectNepal | Digital | Committed financing package | $90Mas reported: $90M |
* Approximate — a reported range, a pre-sanction estimate, or converted from another currency.
Methodology
Each figure is taken from the cited source on the project’s own page and carries that page’s provenance. Nothing here is HEF’s own estimate of a project cost — only a normalisation of what has been published.
Coverage. 9 of 19 tracked projects have a published capital figure. The remaining 10 are excluded entirely rather than counted as zero. This tracker is a directory of publicly reported projects, not a census of Himalayan investment, and the total should never be read as regional investment volume.
Ranges. Where a source reports a range, the range is preserved and widens the totals it feeds. It is never collapsed to a midpoint.
Currency. All figures are reported in US dollars. Non-USD amounts are converted at ₹95.36 per USD as of 12 August 2026 (Morningstar, via Google Finance). A single fixed rate is used deliberately, so totals do not drift with currency movements between page loads — which also means converted figures are marked approximate: the rate is from the conversion date, not from the date each project’s cost was originally quoted. Amounts as originally published are shown alongside every converted value.
Basis. Figures are labelled as a total project value, a committed financing package, or a pre-sanction cost estimate. They are aggregated only under the “capital tracked” framing above, and the mix is shown so a reader can discount accordingly.
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