Vehicle, petroleum worth Rs 47 billion imported via Bhairahawa

BUTWAL, July 30: Vehicles and petroleum worth over Rs 47 billion were imported from the Bhairahawa customs in the last Fiscal Year 2018/19.

Vehicles worth Rs 23.37 billion were imported, and diesel and petrol worth Rs 20.21 billion were imported in the year through the customs. Apart from diesel and petrol, liquefied petroleum gas worth Rs 4.1 billion and kerosene worth Rs 280 million were imported.

Motorcycle was the most imported product through the Bhairahawa border. In the Fiscal Year 2018/19, total 145,879 motorcycles worth Rs 12.33 billion were imported. The number of imported motorcycles went up by 34,000 compared to the previous Fiscal Year 2017/18 when 111,000 motorcycles were imported. In the year, revenue worth Rs 12.29 billion was collected from the import of motorcycle alone.

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Total 125 percent customs duty is levied on the import of motorcycles, apart from VAT. Brands including Honda, Hero Honda, Bajaj, Yamaha, and Suzuki were the most imported motorcycles. The import of scooter has also been increasing every year, according to Kaliram Poudel, information officer at the Bhairahawa Customs Office.

Despite the rise in import of two-wheelers, fewer four-wheelers were imported through the Bhairahawa customs in the last fiscal year compared to the preceding year. Total 7,281 four-wheelers including SUVs, cars and vans worth Rs 4.99 billion were imported. The figure a year ago was 7,700. In the last fiscal year, 3,129 single pickup vehicles worth Rs 1.77 billion were imported, whereas 2,729 trucks and mini trucks worth Rs 3.34 billion were imported.

Likewise, 942 double cap pickup vehicles and 1,255 buses were imported. Compared to the previous fiscal year, the import of tractors decreased by half -- from 6,315 to 3,032. According to officials, the import of tractors decreased because of VAT imposed on it. Likewise, 370 microbuses were imported in the last fiscal year.

The total customs revenue from vehicles at Bhairahawa was Rs 29.49 billion in the Fiscal Year 2018/19. Despite the slight decrease in the total number of vehicles imported, vehicles contributed the most -- 35.97 percent -- to the total revenue of the customs. While the import of truck, mini truck and microbus decreased in the past year, the import of expensive brands of cars showed an increasing trend.

With the overall number of vehicles rising in the country, the import of petroleum has also increased. In the past fiscal year, diesel worth Rs 16.68 billion was imported, up from Rs 13.61 billion of the preceding year. Likewise, petrol worth Rs 3.53 billion was imported in the past year. In the last fiscal year, petrol worth Rs 3.55 billion was imported, according to information officer Poudel.