5.2 Potentials of the Nepalese Economy

(The syllabus names seven — answer in its order, each with potential + constraint.) ResourceThe potentialThe constraint (write both — one-sided answers lose)Waterthe system's headwaters (Koshi, Gandaki, Karnali); irrigation, navigation, flood-control, and the export arithmetic of power trade with Indiaseasonal flows; geopolitics of rivers (treaty frameworks); upstream/ downstream bargaining power rarely used wellEnergy (hydropower)theoretical potential conventionally put near 80,000 MW, with roughly half deemed economically viable; installed capacity a fraction of that — the gap is the opportunity; run-of-river projects to storage giants (the debate itself an exam topic)seasonal generation (winter shortfall); financing and PPA terms; transmission to load centres and across the border; project delay cultureForestaround two-fifths of the land area forested; community forestry — the world-studied Nepali institution — timber, NTFPs (medicinal herbs, yarsagumba, paper plants), carbon finance and biodiversity servicesdegradation pressure, fires, wildlife conflict; benefit-sharing disputes; REDD+ revenues still nascentMineralslimestone (cement — the success story: import- substitution at national scale), marble, magnesite, slate, quartz, iron ore deposits; spring water and Himalayan herbsgeology dispersed, seams difficult; feasibility and environmental clearance bottlenecks; "mineral potential" maps outrun proven reservesHuman resourcesa young, learning-fast workforce; Nepali workers' reputation abroad; a growing service class (IT freelancing, hospitality, care professions); diaspora capital and networksthe migration drain of the very young (record student-exit numbers); skills mismatch; under- investment in technical educationAgricultureextreme agro-ecological diversity (tropical tarai…