Mohan Das Manandhar

Mohan Das Manandhar brings more than 35 years of hands-on experience in policy development, the socio-political dimension of government, business and enterprise development, and social inclusion.

He has worked across government agencies, development organisations, academic institutions, and private sector enterprises in Nepal, South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan), South East Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Myanmar), and Africa (Liberia).

His multidisciplinary career bridges policy research, institutional reform, higher education, and enterprise leadership, giving MAKES Pakistan’s clients access to governance-savvy, politics-intelligent advice alongside our technical environmental and wastewater expertise.

Core Expertise of Mohan Das Manandhar

Policy Development & Governance

Advises governments and development partners on politics-savvy, policy-intelligent reform spanning federalisation, security sector reform, impunity and corruption, and constitutional processes, aiming for accountable, representative and implementable public policy.

Social Inclusion & Political Economy

Designed the research programme that helped establish Nepal’s Norwegian-funded Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF) and worked with 25 political parties on inclusion policy during the first Constituent Assembly, treating exclusion as a root cause of conflict.

Business, Enterprise & Renewable Energy Development

Founder of Urja Developers, a hydropower group with a portfolio exceeding 600 MW of installed capacity, and founder of Organisation Development Centre and Vibor Bank, bringing practical enterprise and clean-energy development experience.

Academia & Capacity Building

Held faculty and leadership posts at Kathmandu University, Ace Institute of Management, Nepal Administrative Staff College, and Tribhuvan University’s Centre for Nepalese and Asian Studies, and taught at Lancaster University in the UK.

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About Mohan Das Manandhar

He is Chairperson of Niti Foundation, a non-profit organisation contributing to the larger discourse on innovative methods to achieve a “more public” policy with just and fair outcomes, in a funding environment increasingly characterised by donors who wish to engage more effectively in supporting policy reform.

Niti provides politics-savvy, policy-intelligent, and practical advice supporting an accountable, representative, and implementable public policy process in Nepal across five thematic areas: federalisation; security sector reform; impunity and corruption; social protection, vulnerability reduction and political inclusion; and climate change and economic growth. He was Executive Director of Niti from 2010 to 2014 and 2017 to 2022.

He served as International Relations Advisor to Nepal Open University (2024 – 2025), as Senior Academic Advisor at the Nepal Administrative Staff College (2016 – 2018), and as Head of Policy Unit at the Centre for Nepalese and Asian Studies (CNAS), Tribhuvan University (2010 – 2011).

He was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, studying issues of displacement and exclusion in large projects in 2015, and continues to serve as an adviser to the Displacement Research and Action Network (DRAN)/MIT. He was a member of the Nepal Advisory Group for Resilient Communities on behalf of the Program on Resilient Communities at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University, from 2023 to 2024.

He was a faculty member at Kathmandu University, serving as Assistant Professor of Finance from 1993 to 1997 and interim Dean in 1995 and 1996. He led the Ace Institute of Management (affiliated with Pokhara University) as Head of Institute in 2002-2004 and 2007-2009, and taught Master’s-level management courses at Lancaster University (UK) in 1996 and at the Ace Institute of Management (Nepal) from 2000 to 2018.

He served as a policy advisor to Nepal’s National Inclusion Commission at the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Nepal, assisting in making government development and personnel policies inclusive in 2009. He was a Board Member of the Alternative Energy Promotion Development Board (AEPC), Government of Nepal, from 2012 to 2014, and a Grant Committee Member of the World Bank-funded Program for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN).

He founded Urja Developers, a group of companies with four verticals and special business units working on hydropower projects, establishing a portfolio with a cumulative installed capacity of over 600 MW, with two hydropower plants in operation and others in various phases of development, alongside an expanding renewable energy generation mix. He also founded and manages Organisation Development Centre as CEO (1998 – present), and founded and chaired Vibor Bank (2010 – 2014).

He is Chairperson of Sustainable Prosperity Initiative Nepal (SPI Nepal), a well-established development and management consultancy providing services in political economy, development programme design and evaluation, development policy analysis, organisation development and management, and capacity building across Nepal and the South Asian region. Since 2021, SPI Nepal has extended its scope to include climate action projects, including clean energy, carbon financing, and policy advocacy, in line with its vision of contributing to sustainable development and prosperity in Nepal.

He was the Political Economy consultant for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), designing an economic reform programme for the Government of Nepal from 2013 to 2015.

Professional Affiliations

Throughout his career, he has been associated with:

• Chairperson, Niti Foundation
• Chairperson, Sustainable Prosperity Initiative Nepal (SPI Nepal)
• Chairperson, Nepal Energy Foundation
• Advisor, Displacement Research Action Network (DRAN), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
• Board Member, Open Learning Exchange – Nepal (OLE-Nepal)
• Founder, Urja Developers (hydropower group)
• Founder & CEO, Organisation Development Centre
• Founder & former Chairperson, Vibor Bank
• Former Board Member, Alternative Energy Promotion Development Board (AEPC), Government of Nepal
• Former Grant Committee Member, World Bank-funded Program for Accountability in Nepal (PRAN)

Areas of Expertise

He specialises across a broad range of governance, socio-political, and enterprise disciplines, including:

Policy & Governance

• Public Policy Development
• Federalisation
• Security Sector Reform
• Impunity & Corruption
• Constitutional & Institutional Reform
• Political Economy Analysis

Social Inclusion & Vulnerability Reduction

• Social Protection & Political Inclusion
• Displacement & Resettlement Impacts of Large Projects
• Conflict-Sensitive Development
• Disaster Preparedness & Response

Business, Enterprise & Climate Economy

• Enterprise & Business Development
• Hydropower & Renewable Energy Development
• Climate Change & Economic Growth
• Carbon Financing & Climate Policy Advocacy
• Organisation Development & Management

Academia, Research & Capacity Building

• Higher Education Leadership
• Finance & Organisational Development Teaching
• Policy Research & Diagnostics
• Development Programme Design & Evaluation

International Experience

He has worked across Nepal, South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan), South East Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Myanmar), and Africa (Liberia), combining policy advisory, institutional consulting, and enterprise leadership across diverse governance contexts.

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Professional Experience Summary

• 2022 – present: Chairperson, Sustainable Prosperity Initiative Nepal
• 2022 – present: Chairperson, Niti Foundation
• 2017 – 2021: Executive Director and Chairperson, Niti Foundation
• 2016 – 2018: Senior Academic Advisor, Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC)
• 2015: Visiting Scholar, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
• 2012 – 2014: Executive Director and Board Member, Niti Foundation
• 2013 – 2015: Political Economy Consultant, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Government of USA (part time)
• 2012 – 2014: International Consultant, City Government of Monrovia, Liberia
• 2010 – 2011: Head of Policy Unit, Centre for Nepalese and Asian Studies (CNAS)/TU
• 2009 – 2010: Senior Advisor, Policy and Institutionalisation, Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF), SNV-Nepal
• 2007 – 2009: Head of Institute, Ace Institute of Management; Senior Advisor, Organisation Development Centre (ODC)
• 1996 – 2007: Chief Executive Officer, Organisation Development Centre (ODC)
• 2002 – 2004: Head of Institute, Ace Institute of Management
• 1996: Visiting Faculty in Organisation Behaviour, Management School, Lancaster University, UK (one semester)
• 1995 & 1996: Acting Dean, School of Management, Kathmandu University
• 1993 – 1997: Assistant Professor in Finance and Organisational Development, School of Management, Kathmandu University
• 1984 – 1993: Engineer, Nepal Electricity Authority, including the Trishuli-Devighat Rehabilitation Project, the Karnali (Chisapani) Multipurpose Project (deputed to Bechtel Incorporates USA), and the Second Kulekhani Hydroelectric Project

Education

• Master of Business Administration (MBA), International University of Japan, Japan, 1992
• Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering (BE), Roorkee University (IIT-Roorkee), India, 1984

Publications

Books

• Transforming Nepal: Balancing Growth with Equity. Pushkar Bajracharya, Mohan Das Manandhar, and Rojan Bajracharya, Adroit Publisher, New Delhi, India, 2025
• Nepal’s Economy in Disarray: The Policies and Politics of Development. Pushkar Bajracharya, Mohan Das Manandhar, and Rojan Bajracharya, Adroit Publisher, New Delhi, India, 2019
• State and Society: Social Inclusion and Exclusion in Nepal, edited by Kristian Stokke and Mohan Das Manandhar, Mandala Book Point, Kathmandu, 2010
• Organisation Development in the South. Dr. Ken Afful and Mohan Das Manandhar, EKTA Books, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2002

Policy Briefs

• Disaster Preparedness and Response During Political Transition in Nepal: Assessing civil and military roles in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes. Mohan Das Manandhar, George Varughese, Arnold M. Howitt, and Erica Kelly, The Asia Foundation, April 2017
• Policy Diagnostic Study Report of Nepal. Prof. Deborah Stone, Dr. Joritt de Jong, Dr. Hemanta Ojha, Dr. Hari Dhungana, Mohan Das Manandhar and Basanta Pokharel, Niti Foundation, October 2012
• More than 20 additional policy briefs on Constitutional Commissions, Federalism, Energy, Social Protection, TVET, eCooking, and Heat Stress

Articles

More than 30 articles published in newspapers, magazines and journals on development, policy and management.

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Expertise for MAKES Pakistan

As a member of the MAKES Pakistan panel of experts, he strengthens the multidisciplinary team’s coverage of policy, governance and socio-economic dimensions that surround environmental and infrastructure delivery. His experience in policy development and institutional reform supports clients navigating regulatory and government approval processes,

While his social inclusion and displacement research (including his work with MIT’s Displacement Research Action Network) is directly relevant to resettlement, land and community impacts associated with large water, sanitation and energy infrastructure projects.

His enterprise background as founder of a hydropower group with a cumulative installed capacity exceeding 600 MW, together with SPI Nepal’s work in climate action, carbon financing and clean energy policy advocacy, complements MAKES Pakistan’s own renewable energy, biogas and green infrastructure services with practical business development and climate-finance perspective.

• Policy & Institutional Advisory
• Social Inclusion & Displacement Impact Assessment
• Renewable Energy & Enterprise Development
• Climate Change, Carbon Financing & Policy Advocacy
• Political Economy & Governance Analysis
• Capacity Building & Institutional Training

Professional Summary

Mohan Das Manandhar is a policy development, governance and social inclusion expert whose career reflects a rare combination of government service, academic leadership, international advisory work, and enterprise development.

Through his leadership of Niti Foundation and Sustainable Prosperity Initiative Nepal, his advisory roles with institutions such as MIT, Harvard University, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and his enterprise ventures in hydropower and organisation development, he continues to shape accountable, implementable public policy while contributing practical, cross-sector expertise to the MAKES Pakistan panel of experts.

Frequently Asked Questions