Nepal has awarded a contract to a Chinese state-owned security printing firm to produce new banknotes across multiple denominations, a central bank official confirmed on Sunday.Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has selected China Bank Note Printing and Minting Corporation to design, print and supply notes of NRs 50, NRs 500 and NRs 1,000, spokesperson Guru Prasad Paudel told PTI. Under the newly awarded contract, the company must deliver the notes within nine months.Paudel said the NRB provides the technical specifications, after which the Chinese firm prepares a design that must be approved by the central bank before printing begins.Earlier this month, the same Chinese company also received a Letter of Intent to design and print 430 million pieces of the NRs 1,000 denomination.The upcoming NRs 1,000 note will feature seven rhododendrons, Nepal’s national flower, representing the country’s seven provinces. It will also carry the signature of the current governor, Prof Dr Biswo Nath Poudel, appearing for the first time in this banknote series.China Bank Note Printing and Minting Corporation was selected on the basis of the lowest evaluated bid and has previously printed Nepalese notes of Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 100 and Rs 500.Meanwhile, on Thursday, Nepal’s central bank issued new Rs 100 notes carrying a revised national map that includes the Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura regions — territories that India maintains belong to it. Nepal claims these areas, lying east of the Mahakali river, fall within its borders according to the 1816 Sugauli Treaty.These disputed territories were incorporated into Nepal’s political map in May 2020 by the K P Sharma Oli government, a move later endorsed by Parliament. India had sharply criticised the updated map at the time, calling it a unilateral and unacceptable “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims.NRB officials noted that Nepal’s Rs 1 and Rs 2 coins have already been minted with the revised map for the past two years.
