Kathmandu, May 24
Gautam Buddha International Airport, Nepal’s second international airport, has failed to collect the targeted customs duty.
The airport, which came into operation a year ago, has struggled to collect customs duty due to a lack of regular international flights.
According to the Department of Customs, the airport’s Customs Office had a target of collecting Rs 89.15 million in revenue for the current fiscal year. However, the office has collected only Rs 8.5 million in the last 10 months of the current fiscal year.
At present, there are 33 customs points in Nepal including the two international ones. The customs department had set a target of collecting Rs 490 billion rupees in customs revenue. But as of May, it has only collected Rs 285 billion. This is only 58 per cent of the target.
The revenue collection from the Tribhuvan International Airport has not been great as it has only collected Rs 13.19 billion when its target was Rs 22.5 billion.
The newly inaugurated Chobhar dry port, however, has collected more than its revenue target. The port had a target to collect Rs 89.15 million in revenue but to the department’s delight has collected Rs 142.68 million.
