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Nepal book sellers, students hit after 10% duty on books imported from India
TIWN
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New Delhi/Kathmandu, July 10 (TIWN) Even as Indian publishers are grappling with a budget proposal of 5 per cent customs duty on imported books, in close neighbour Nepal, a 10 per cent duty on imported titles has left publishers and booksellers reeling, with students hit badly as Kathmandu imports over 80 per cent of its books from India.
A few days after the Nepal government on May 29 announced a 10 per cent duty on imported books, publishers stopped picking up books at the Nepal customs point in protest and have demanded roll back of the move. With no text books coming in to Nepal, the student community has been affected the most, say publishers.
"Around 80-90 per cent of books in Nepal are imported, and most of it from India. Now the students, including those in Classes 10 and 11, are not getting text books on time. The National Booksellers' and Publishers' Association of Nepal (NBPAN) has decided not to import any books in protest. We import 90-95 per cent of academic and text books from India," a noted book seller in Kathmandu told IANS on phone, declining to be named.
According to Madhab Maharjan, Advisor NBPAN and owner of Mandala Book Point in Kathmandu, the 10 per cent customs duty will attract other taxes, like the cost, insurance and freight tax and other charges, further pushing up the price of imported books.
"Books all over the world are sold at the printed price. With the customs duty and the added charges, it is going to be difficult to sell imported books to academic institutions, libraries and students," Maharjan told IANS over phone from Kathmandu.
He said they have requested the KP Sharma Oli government to remove the tax. "We have a long tradition of importing books from India. Religious books were imported from Benaras in the 20th century. Now the import of books is restricted to New Delhi," said Maharjan, adding that scholars, academics and experts are raising their voices in protest against the move through the print and social media.
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