Nepal's increased bullion import duty to help India reduce smuggling

Smuggling of gold via Nepal borders was not only affecting India but also Nepalese jewellers

The Nepal government’s decision to sharply increase import duty of gold and silver is expected to help both Nepal and India, as part of the volume imported by Nepalese jewellers enters India illegally, significantly squeezing their supplies.

The government of Nepal, which shares a porous border with India, had last week increased Customs duty on import of up to 50 gm of gold bars to Nepalese rupee (NPR) 7,500 per 10 gm — up from NPR 6,200 per 10 gm earlier. For import of 51-100 gm of gold bars, the duty was raised to NPR 8,500 from NPR 7,200 per