Digitalization of Nepal’s Land Administration Sector

LEI will provide Technical Assistance for the World Bank to support the digitalisation and decentralisation of Nepal’s land administration system, as well as the establishment of an integrated land and property valuation system.

Nepal’s cadastral and land registry records are relatively comprehensive and widely available in digital format, providing a sound base for modernization. What is needed, is harmonization to achieve efficiency and accessibility goals, benefiting all. Currently, separate systems and agencies manage survey and land registration data – a burden, given that almost all land administration services require data from both systems. Whilst the 2015 Constitution established a federal system, municipalities remain disconnected from cadastral data and lack the capacity to provide effective service delivery.

Nepal’s land and property valuation and taxation system could benefit from greater coherence and integration. Improved transparency, consistency and enforcement could all contribute to improved trust in the real estate market, improved services and sustainable revenue generation.

In response to these challenges, the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation (MLMCPA) requested Technical Assistance from the World Bank to support the digitalization and decentralisation of Nepal’s land administration system, as well as the establishment of an integrated land and property valuation system. Formally launched during the FIG Regional Conference in Nepal in November 2024, a grant from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) provides the project with funding.

Key Project Services

The primary goals of the consulting assignment are to provide strategic recommendations on several critical aspects of Nepal’s land administration services by carrying out in-depth assessments, consulting widely, and utilizing the assessment results and international innovations to provide prioritized and time-based recommendations for the World Bank and GoN.

As the lead partner, LEI will guide the team to produce technical assessments and recommendations for:

• The digitalization of the land administration system.
• The decentralization of land administration services.
• The establishment of a digital land and property valuation and taxation system.
• The legal and regulatory gaps and necessary changes to facilitate and enable digitalization and decentralization.

In addition, the consortium will run a final workshop to present key findings and recommendations and produce a technical report summarizing key findings, lessons learned, and best practices relevant to Nepal from the study tour and learning exchange.

LEI’s team recognises that the different tasks in this project are intrinsically linked. It is imperative that a common framework is used in the implementation and the recommendations are formulated with a mindset towards an integrated and phased strategic development framework and pilot program with a clear transition plan.