Nepal’s Central Bank Contracts Chinese Firm for Currency Printing

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central banking authority of Nepal, recently issued a letter of intent to China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (CBPMC) to design, print, and supply 430 million 1,000 rupee notes. This project will cost around $16.985 million, and the NRB noted that CBPMC had a strong response and emerged as the lowest bidder among competitors.

For the last three years, CBPMC, a state-owned entity in China, has successfully secured seven tenders to print banknotes for Nepal. Over this duration, it’s expected to earn approximately $63 million from the printing of around 2.38 billion banknotes.

China began printing Nepali banknotes back in 2016 after winning its inaugural contract. Before that, from 1945 to 1955, Nepal’s currency was printed by the Indian Security Press in Nashik. Notably, the last contract awarded to an Indian company was on January 10, 2023, when the NRB selected the Securities Printing and Minting Corporation of India to print 300 million NPR 50 notes for $5,048,000.

However, the shift from India to China for printing stems from more than just cost. Nepal’s new banknotes feature contentious regions such as Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura, and Kalapani as part of its territory, making the printing of these notes a politically sensitive matter with India.

Thus, Nepal opted for China, not just for being a cost-effective option, but also for offering modern security features. Currently, all Nepali banknotes are printed in China.

It’s interesting to note that Nepal isn’t alone in this choice; several other South Asian nations, like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, and Afghanistan, also have their banknotes printed in China.

CBPMC holds the distinction of being the largest banknote printing entity worldwide, alongside other government-operated institutions like Japan’s National Printing Bureau, Russia’s Goznak, and the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing.