October 13: The import of vehicles powered by diesel and petrol has declined significantly at the Birgunj customs in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The records of Birgunj customs also revealed that the import of electric vehicles has increased during the same period.

As per the data of Birgunj customs, the import of jeeps, cars, and vans decreased by 81 percent. A total of 1,673 vehicles including jeeps, cars, and vans had entered the dry port from mid-July to mid-August last year. However, only 310 of such vehicles entered the customs premises during the same period this year.

The import of vehicles took a nosedive due to the policy adopted by the government to curb imports in order to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange reserves and the lack of investable capital in banks. Since vehicles are the main source of revenue of the customs, the revenue collection has decreased along with the decline in the import of vehicles. As a result, Birgunj customs has not been able to collect revenue as per the target.

The import of electric jeeps, cars and vans on the other hand increased by 56 percent. According to the customs office, 45 electric vehicles were imported in the first two months of the last fiscal year, which increased to 70 in the same period this year. Similarly, there has been a significant increase in the import of electric motorcycles by 193 percent. The number of electric motorcycles imported into the country increased from 123 to 361.

The government has taken a policy to encourage the import of electric vehicles. Compared to other vehicles, the attraction of such vehicles has increased due to low customs duty and low registration fees. But although the government encourages the import of such vehicles, stakeholders say that the current incentives are not enough.

Customs records show that the import of motorcycles decreased by 61 percent. According to Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj customs, 12,633 motorcycles were imported in the first two months of the previous year, which decreased to 4,968 this year.

The import of unassembled motorcycles on the other hand increased by 160 percent. In the first two months of last fiscal year, 3,196 such motorcycles entered through Birgunj customs, which increased to 8,307 this year.

Along with the decrease in the import of vehicles, the import of spare parts has also decreased. According to the customs data, such imports decreased by 27 percent.