Kathmandu, November 2
The import of electric vehicles in Nepal is continuously going up, according to the Department of Customs data.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year (mid-July to mid-October 2022), Nepal imported 705 vehicles, and 291 of them were imported in the last month alone.
According to the customs data, the country spent Rs 2.05 billion on the import of these vehicles in the past three months. From these imports, the government collected Rs 622.2 million in revenues.
In the same period last year, Nepal imported 446 electric vehicles only.
As the government has imposed a ban on the import of SUVs, cars and vans (except ambulances and hearses) operated with diesel and petrol to address depleting foreign exchange reserves, customers are more interested in EVs these days.
Easy banking facilities, ever-increasing fuel prices, government concessions on import charges, increasing awareness about the environment, and the global trend have also contributed to the rising imports in Nepal.
The importers say they have not been able to increase the supply as the production of EVs has been insufficient in the international market.
