BIRGUNJ, Oct 31: There has been a steep rise in the import of vehicles in the first three months of the current fiscal year. Due to the soaring import of wide range of vehicles including SUV, car, van, motorcycle, truck, mini-truck and three-wheelers, revenue collection at Birganj Customs Office has increased. A total of 3,750 cars and vans were imported in the first three months (mid-July to mid-October) of the current fiscal year, compared to the figure of 3,150 in the same period last year. The year-on-year growth rate has been 15.20 percent. 

Likewise, 451 single cabin pickup trucks entered the nation last year, and the number has increased to 471 this year. The import of trucks and mini trucks has posted a robust growth of 43.5 percent to 423 in the first quarter compared the same period last year. 
While the last fiscal year saw 37,861 motorcycles entering Nepal, this year’s figure rose by 44 percent to reach 54,430. The import of auto-rickshaw has risen drastically by a triple to 3,069 which was only 1,044 in the review period last year.

Soaring revenue
The government has collected more revenue from the auto sector compared to the target given in the first three months. Revenue collection from auto imports has exceeded the growth target by 3 percent in the first three months in the current fiscal year. Birgunj Customs Office has collected Rs 30.56 billion from the auto imports while the target for the period was only Rs 29.56 billion. Officials attribute overwhelming rise in the imports for the success in achieving revenue collection. “This is mainly due to overwhelming imports of auto,” said Santosh Yadav, spokesperson of Birgunj Customs Office. 

 
• vehicles
 
• import
 
• tax
 
• revenue