NEW DELHI: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central banking authority of Nepal, has commissioned a Chinese company to print its new 100-rupee banknotes, featuring a revised political map of Nepal. This map includes the contested areas of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani, a move backed by Nepal’s council of ministers which approved the design update.
The political map of Nepal was amended on June 18, 2020, to include these territories by amending its constitution, a move met with staunch opposition from neighboring India. India has consistently maintained that Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura are part of its sovereign territory and has labeled Nepal’s map update an “untenable” and “artificial enlargement” of its territorial claims.
The contract for printing these banknotes was awarded to the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation after a competitive international tender process. According to a report by English-language daily Republica, the agreement tasks the Chinese firm with designing, printing, supplying, and delivering 300 million units of the 100-rupee notes, at an estimated production cost of USD 8.99 million.
The 2020 publication of Nepal’s revised political map reignited long standing territorial disputes between the two South Asian neighbors, with India condemning the map as a “unilateral act,” cautioning that any “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims would not be acceptable.
Geographically, Nepal shares a border spanning over 1,850 kilometers with five Indian states: Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
