Import of electric vehicles plunges heavily in first five months of current FY

KATHMANDU, The import of electric vehicles dropped heavily after the government revised the customs duty on environment-friendly automobiles through the budget this year.

The records maintained by the Department of Customs (DoC) show that Nepal imported 37 electric four wheelers in the first five months of the current fiscal year. The import figure was far low compared to the import in the same period last year. According to the department, the country imported 315 electric cars during the review period last year.

The fall in imports has been attributed to the government's stringent policy in the sector. The government through the budget for 2020/21 revoked concessions and subsidies, along with revising the customs duty and value added tax (VAT) on imported electric vehicles.

In addition, the customs duty has been raised to up to 80 percent from the previous 10 percent. Similarly, the rate of excise duty has also been increased from five percent to 80 percent.

According to the DoC, of the imported electric vehicles, 27 were of the capacity of up to 50 KW, seven were with capacity between 50 KW and 100 KW and three were in the variants between 100 KW and 150 KW. During the period, nine hybrid cars that run with both petrol and electricity were imported. During the review period, Nepal imported 1,190 units of electric three-wheelers.

Republica