In a significant move for its financial system, Nepal has formally entrusted a Chinese state-owned company with the production of its new currency banknotes. The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country's central bank, confirmed the contract award on Sunday, marking a deepening of economic ties between Kathmandu and Beijing.
The Contract and Its Details
Spokesperson Guru Prasad Paudel confirmed to PTI that the China Bank Note Printing and Minting Corporation has been selected to design, print, and supply new notes in the denominations of 50, 500, and 1,000 Nepalese rupees. The newly awarded contract stipulates that the Chinese firm must deliver the entire order within a strict timeframe of nine months.
The process involves the NRB providing the technical specifications for the currency. Based on these requirements, the Chinese company prepares a design prototype. This design must receive official approval from the central bank before the actual printing of the banknotes can commence.
Features of the New Currency and Previous Collaboration
This is not the first collaboration between Nepal and the Chinese security printer. Earlier this month, the same corporation received a Letter of Intent for a separate contract to design and print a massive 430 million pieces of the 1,000-rupee denomination.
The upcoming 1,000-rupee note will carry distinct national symbols. It is set to feature seven rhododendrons, Nepal's national flower, which represent the country's seven provinces. Furthermore, this series will for the first time bear the signature of the current central bank governor, Prof Dr Biswo Nath Poudel. The Chinese company was selected primarily on the basis of submitting the lowest evaluated bid and has a history of printing Nepalese notes, having previously produced the 5, 10, 100, and 500-rupee denominations.
The Context: New Notes with a Revised Map
This development comes alongside another notable issuance from Nepal's central bank. On Thursday, the NRB released new 100-rupee notes that carry a revised national map. This updated cartography includes the territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura within Nepal's borders.
India maintains that these regions belong to it, while Nepal claims they fall within its territory according to the historic 1816 Sugauli Treaty, lying east of the Mahakali river. These disputed territories were officially incorporated into Nepal's political map in May 2020 by the then government of K P Sharma Oli, a move that was later endorsed by the Parliament.
India had sharply criticized this update at the time, labeling it a unilateral and unacceptable "artificial enlargement" of territorial claims. NRB officials have also noted that Nepal's 1 and 2-rupee coins have already been minted with this revised map for the past two years.
