June 29: Lately, the trend of having coffee has increased in Nepal. Coffee, which was available mostly in big hotels and restaurants until a few years ago, is now available at small tea shops and coffee houses in every nook and corner of the major cities. Along with the increase in demand, its import also seems to have increased.

According to the data of the Department of Customs, in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, Nepal imported coffee worth Rs 312.27 million. This is 170 percent more than the corresponding period of last fiscal year. In the same period of the last fiscal year, Nepal had imported coffee worth Rs 115.78 million.

Experts say that the import of coffee has increased because the production is not encouraging.

During the review period of the current fiscal year, the government has also collected revenue of Rs 162.45 million from coffee imports.

Nepal imports coffee from Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Qatar, Taiwan, the USA, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong and other countries.