Industrial machinery
exported to Nepal

Before a foreign offer is drafted for a Nepali public body, it is worth knowing whether that body may lawfully ask for one. Section 15 of the Public Procurement Act 2063 (2007) permits an international invitation on four grounds and no others: the goods cannot be had at a competitive price from more than one supplier inside Nepal; a national process drew no bids; a donor agreement requires foreign sourcing; or the entity certifies the goods to be complex and special in nature. No monetary threshold attaches, so order size settles nothing: for a quantity of standard machines the first ground must be made out on the record. An international notice, and the documents behind it, must be issued in English. Bids go through bolpatra.gov.np, under the Public Procurement Monitoring Office.

The sea leg ends in India

There is no Nepali seaport, so the first commercial decision is which Indian gateway to use. Discharge is at Kolkata, formally Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, at Haldia, or at Visakhapatnam, which offers more depth and less congestion at the cost of distance. The cargo then moves in bond under the India-Nepal Treaty of Transit. The principal customs point is ICD Birgunj, the Sirsiya dry port, the only one in the country joined to the gateways by rail. Biratnagar comes next, served by a Kolkata rail cargo link opened in July 2026, with Bhairahawa behind it; since November 2025 neither is confined to a restricted cargo list. Price the movement through to the inland clearance point and name the chosen gateway in the contract; congestion at one against mileage to the other is a genuine trade-off.

Crossing India under seal

The Electronic Cargo Tracking System allows a container to transit India sealed and be cleared at the Nepali border without being opened at the Indian port. In use since February 2019, it was widened by an India CBIC amendment of early November 2025 from Birgunj alone to Kolkata, Haldia and Visakhapatnam into Birgunj by rail, Batnaha into Biratnagar by rail and road, and Jogbani into Biratnagar by road. Transit days, port dwell and exposure to pilferage all come down on a high-value machine, but e-seal handling is not automatic and belongs in the shipping instructions.

Nothing to certify, and a ceiling to confirm

Nepal operates no pre-shipment or pre-export verification of conformity whatever. The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology runs NS product certification, mandatory on a short list of imports such as reinforcing bar, cement and gas cylinders, which does not reach industrial plant. Payment method, on the other hand, is laid down centrally. A third-country import settles by letter of credit, advance payment or telegraphic transfer, and the central bank caps draft and TT payments above a level at which the credit becomes compulsory. Nepal Rastra Bank eased its rules and lifted those ceilings again in October 2026, so ask the buyer's bank to confirm the current limit in writing before structuring terms.

Connection and documents

Supply is 230 V at 50 Hz with no official plug standard: Type C is commonest, then D and M, and universal sockets are widespread, so capital equipment is better specified for a fixed terminal connection than a moulded lead. The customs declaration is the Pragyapan Patra, a Nepali form the buyer's agent completes, while the commercial invoice and packing list are accepted in English. Neither a parts holding nor a servicing capability forms part of this offer, and any obligation to erect the plant, to instruct its operators or to answer under guarantee exists only so far as the purchase terms create it.