705 electric vehicles imported in the first three months of current FY

KATHMANDU, Nov 6: With the removal of 10 percent excise duty on 100 kW electric vehicles in the budget of the current financial year, the import of 100 kW vehicles has increased dramatically in a period of three months.

According to the Customs Department, 705 electric vehicles have been imported during the first three months of the current fiscal year. With the reduction of excise duty on electric vehicles with a capacity of 100 kW, a total of 686 electric cars, jeeps and vans worth 1.91 billion rupees have been imported in three months.

Although the government removed the excise duty on 100 kW capacity electric vehicles in the current year's budget, the import of large capacity electric vehicles has decreased drastically due to the increase in the excise duty on other electric vehicles.

In the current year's budget, the government increased the customs duty on electric vehicles with a capacity of 300 kW from 40 percent to 60 percent. Similarly, the excise duty of 300 kW electric vehicles was increased from 45 percent to 60 percent.

Similarly, these 300 kilowatt capacity electric vehicles are being imported only in very small numbers. Through the Economic Act, the government has increased the customs duty from 15 percent to 30 percent for electric vehicles with a capacity of 100 to 200 kW.

In the Economic Act, the customs rate for electric vehicles with a capacity of 200 kW to 300 kW has been increased from 30 percent to 45 percent. The customs duty of electric vehicles with a capacity of 300 kW has been increased from 40 percent to 60 percent.

The then Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel in the budget brought through the ordinance of the Fiscal Year 2021-22, fixed a 10 percent customs rate for the import of electric vehicles with a capacity of 100 kW. Similarly, it was arranged that 15 percent duty will be levied on electric vehicles up to 200 kW and 30 percent duty on import of electric vehicles with a capacity of 200 to 300 kW.

During the same period, a total of 2,393 three-wheeler electric vehicles worth 230 million rupees have been imported. According to the Department, 1,807 four-wheeled electric vehicles were imported in the financial year 2021/22. In the year 2020-21, only 249 such vehicles were imported. In last year's budget, with the reduction of tax on the import of electric vehicles, almost six times more electric vehicles have been imported.

According to the Department, 996 electric cars, jeeps and vans with a capacity of 100 kW worth 2.66 billion rupees were imported in the last financial year. During that period, 13 electric vehicles with a capacity of 150 kilowatts worth 36.7 million rupees were imported. Similarly, 792 electric vehicles with a capacity of 100 to 200 kW worth 2.56 billion rupees were imported.