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This arrangement will help not only help tourists and pilgrims travelling between India and Nepal but also traders, which would give a boost to bilateral economic activities.
India and Nepal are preparing to take a major step forward in the trade. The Indian and Nepalese governments are set to sign an agreement, after which tourists travelling between the two countries will no longer have to carry currency notes.
India tourists can now pay using the QR code in Nepal.The agreement will help tourists travelling between the two countries to make digital payments using Indian e-wallets like BharatPe, PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm.
Nepal will now easily get access to the facilities of Indian e-wallets. Indians travelling to Nepal will be able to pay foreign merchants via UPI. The agreement will be signed during Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's Prachanda upcoming visit to New Delhi.
Preparations are underway for the Nepali PM's visit. The draft agreement has been finalised by the finance ministers of Nepal and India.
This arrangement will help not only help tourists and pilgrims travelling between India and Nepal but also traders, which would give a boost to bilateral economic activities.
A year ago, the two countries signed a technical agreement to enable the use of Nepalese e-wallets in India and Indian e-wallets in Nepal. Nepal's gateway payments service provider, Gateway Payments Service Private Limited, and India's National Payment Corporation of India have signed this agreement.
As per the gateway agreement, citizens of Nepal will be able to transfer money to any Indian bank through a QR code. Similarly. Indians can send money to any bank account in Nepal via Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm.
Besides the pact on the use of e-wallets, the two sides are likely to sign agreements on two hydropower projects and one transmission line during Prachanda's visit to Delhi
The largest number of tourists to Nepal are from neighbouring India. According to figures provided by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), more than 200,000 tourists from India entered Nepal in the 12 months of 2022.
Out of a total of 614,148 tourists who visited Nepal last year, 209,105 tourists were from India alone. This is about 35 per cent of the total visitors who travel by air.
India is Nepal's largest trade partner and the biggest source of foreign investment. India accounts for about two-thirds of Nepal's merchandise trade, about one-third of the trade in services and almost 100% of petroleum supplies.
During the last financial year, bilateral trade between India and Nepal saw an increase of 41% over the previous financial year. Further, Nepal's exports to India increased more than 100% over the previous financial year and accounted for 75 per cent of Nepal's total export.
Nepal hopes that Indian e-wallets will help to further boost bilateral trade and revive the Himalayan country's economy.
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