Eastern Development Region

The Eastern Development Region anchors Nepal's industrial economy and cross-border trade with India, hosting Biratnagar—the country's manufacturing center—and the Terai plains that produce much of Nepal's agricultural surplus. This 1970s planning region now overlaps with Koshi and portions of other provinces but remains analytically useful. The region's location advantage is geography: flat Terai lowlands enable large-scale farming, India's Bihar state lies directly across the border, and road and rail connections facilitate trade. Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586m) marks the region's northern boundary, creating the full elevation gradient from Himalayan peaks to subtropical plains. Tea cultivation in Ilam District produces Nepal's premium export tea, while the lowlands grow rice, jute, and sugarcane. Industry concentrates in Biratnagar's corridor, though power shortages and infrastructure gaps constrain expansion. The region receives substantial remittances, ranking among Nepal's wealthier areas. Cross-border economic integration with India creates opportunities and vulnerabilities—trade flows easily but so do cheaper Indian manufactures that undercut local production. By 2026, the Eastern Development Region's trajectory depends on whether industrial policy can compete with Indian competition, whether tea and agricultural exports expand, and whether the region retains young workers or loses them to Gulf emigration like the rest of Nepal.