By IANS
Kathmandu : With Indian companies’ interest in Nepal growing after the political changes since last year, an Indian firm is in the fray, for the first time, for a currency note printing contract from the country’s central bank.
Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India, based in Wardha, Maharashtra, is among the 11 pre-qualifying companies selected by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to print 100 and 50-rupee notes.
This is the first time that an Indian firm is trying to enter the currency printing sector in Nepal.
The other firms in the fray are from Canada, China, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Indonesia.
Manmohan Kumar Shrestha, executive director of NRB’s currency management department, said the contract would be awarded to the company with the lowest quote, which they have to submit within 46 days.
The contract entails printing 100 and 50-rupee notes worth Nepali Rs.100 million.
The pre-qualifying companies were primarily chosen from a global tender on the basis of their ISO certification, financial statement and experience.
The last time NRB floated a similar contract was in 2005, when a French and a British company bagged the two deals.