बालेन्द्र मन्त्रिमण्डलको सम्पत्ति: आँकडाले के देखाउँछ? Inside the Wealth of Nepal's Balendra Cabinet

When the Balendra Shah government was sworn in on 20 March 2026, it came with a promise rarely made openly in Nepali politics: publish every minister’s property declaration before the first day was over. All sixteen members of the cabinet filed with the CIAA. What’s in those filings tells an interesting story.

A Wide Spread of Declared Wealth

The declarations reveal a cabinet that spans a significant range of personal wealth, from NPR 3.4 Crore to NPR 23.4 Crore among those whose figures are available. The median sits around NPR 6 to 7 Crore.

Sasmit Pokharel, Minister for Education, Science and Technology, tops the cabinet with a declared net worth of NPR 23.4 Crore (gross NPR 24.2 Crore, minus liabilities of NPR 75 Lakh). Almost all of it, NPR 21.2 Crore, is family-held real estate spread across seven properties in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Morang. His personal assets account for the remaining NPR 2.2 Crore, largely in government bonds and shares.

Swarneem Wagle, Finance Minister, declares NPR 18.1 Crore. The figure is shaped heavily by real estate acquired during his years working abroad. Four buildings in Lalitpur, Dhulikhel, and Bandipur account for NPR 12.75 Crore. He also holds NPR 4.5 Crore in shares, largely in hydropower projects. His declaration is notably detailed on acquisition source: most property is listed as bought with income from international employment.

Sudhan Gurung, Deputy Prime Minister, comes in at NPR 6.4 Crore. His wealth sits primarily in shares (NPR 4.3 Crore across several companies) and gold (89 tola, valued at roughly NPR 89 Lakh). He declares three large land parcels, including 221 ropani of ancestral land in Gorkha under his grandfather’s name, but assigns no monetary value to them. This is common practice when land is not held directly by the official.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah declares NPR 3.4 Crore, the lowest among the four profiled here. His declaration lists NPR 1.46 Crore in bank deposits, described in his own notes as income from Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Spotify, and iTunes. He also lists 190 tola of gold held by his wife, valued at roughly NPR 1.9 Crore at current market rates. He declares no real estate in his own name, only two properties held by his mother.

What These Numbers Don’t Tell You

Property declarations in Nepal have a well-known limitation: land and building values are almost entirely self-assessed, and many filers declare zero market value even for prime Kathmandu real estate. Sasmit Pokharel’s seven properties are assigned values, but they appear conservative against current market rates. Sudhan Gurung’s 221 ropani in Gorkha is listed at zero value, consistent with the convention of not valuing ancestral holdings.

This means the real picture of cabinet wealth is almost certainly higher than what the filings show. The declarations are a floor, not a ceiling.

The RSP Pattern: Shares and Hydropower

A striking pattern across several RSP ministers is significant exposure to hydropower shares. Sudhan Gurung holds stakes in Adventure Villa and Lagum Premium Apartments; Swarneem Wagle holds three hydro projects worth a combined NPR 4.5 Crore. Whether this creates any conflict with energy policy decisions is a question worth watching as the government sets its agenda.

What This Site Tracks

SampatiBibaran.com will follow these declarations year by year. When the next round of filings comes due, we will be able to measure exactly what changed and what didn’t. The goal isn’t to judge whether any minister is too rich or too poor. The goal is to make the data easy to find, compare, and hold onto.

All figures on this site are drawn from the official CIAA declaration document, scanned and published by the government. You can download the original PDF from the Sources page.