State-owned Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has imported 12,500 tonnes of sugar from India in the last two months with an eye on the festivals of Dashain, Tihar and Chhat.

These consignments were made from Renuka Sugar Mills in West Bengal, India, and brought through Sirsiya Dry Port in Birgunj.

Basudev Upadhyaya, acting chief of STC zonal office, said have received five consignments through railway. “The remaining consignments will arrive soon.”

The government has permitted STC to import 30,000 tonnes of sugar. Of the total import, 7,500 tonnes have been dispatched to different parts of the country. “We have been sending sugar to different locations based on demand.”

The corporation has set up fair price shops in different parts of the country in order to facilitate consumers. Upadhyaya said they have been providing the subsidized sugar on the basis of 6kg per person.  The country imports about 50,000 tonnes of sugar annually. It produces around 165,000 tonnes annually, against the demand for 215,000 tonnes. The deficit is met by imports, mainly from India and Brazil.

Meanwhile, imports of alcohol through the dry port have increased significantly this year after the business were affected by last year’s earthquake and subsequent trade embargo. A large quantity of alcohol is consumed in Nepal during the Dashain and Tihar festivals.

Harihar Poudel, information officer at the dry port, said alcohol imports had dropped last year but it has picked up dramatically this year. Since July, 30 containers of different alcohol brands have arrived Nepal from the third countries through the dry port. “The festivals drive alcohol imports,” Poudel said, adding Birgunj is the major route for alcohol imports.

Alcohol has a major share in government’s revenue collection. A container of whiskey contributes Rs15 million to Rs22 million in customs revenue, he said.

According to the dry port, it has targeted Rs1.65 billion in revenue collection from alcohol for the period between mid-September and mid-October. As of now, it has collected Rs1.14 billion, or 70 percent.

In the first three months of the current fiscal year, Sirsiya Dry Port collected Rs4.74 billion in customs revenue. It has targeted Rs5.07 billion collection by mid-October.