Kathmandu, August 29
The 12th edition of the largest automobile exhibition, NADA Auto Show, kicked off in Capital, today.
The six-day event is being organised jointly by Nepal Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and Global Exposition Management Service.
Inaugurating the event, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bir Bahadur Balayar said that the automobile sector has been one of the largest contributors of revenue to the government. “We are positive towards addressing all genuine demands of automobile dealers and ensure the sector will witness healthy growth in coming days.”
Citing that the constant server failure in the transport offices of the government is one of the biggest challenges in the country’s transportation industry, Balayar said that the government is in the process of addressing it permanently. Similarly, he also informed that the government will aggressively start issuing smart licences across the country by delivering this facility to service seekers through all the transport offices in all the provinces.
Similarly, Balayar also informed that MoPIT has been facing problems in standardising road networks across the country due to lack of adequate budget. “The government has collected more than Rs 20 billion from the transportation sector as road maintenance tax. However, Ministry of Finance has issued only 20 per cent of the collected fund to MoPIT,” the minister informed.
Speaking on the occasion, Shekhar Golchha, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said that road networks and automobile industry are the backbone for development. “Automobiles are often blamed to have damaged the road condition and beauty of cities across the country which is wrong,” he said.
Similarly, Anjan Shrestha, president of NADA, said that the government should reduce tax slabs imposed on automobiles to make vehicles affordable for all citizens.
As per organisers, almost 90 companies related to the transportation sector are participating in the auto show this year. Similarly, 16 brands of four-wheelers, 19 brands of two-wheelers and six brands of heavy equipment are participating in the NADA Auto Show.
Automobile brands like Nissan, Renault, Skoda, Suzuki, Tata, Toyota, Volkswagen, Ssangyong, Datsun, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra Ashok Leyland, Eicher, Escorts, Scomadi, Suzuki, TVS, UM, Vespa, Yamaha, Mahindra and Tata, among others have their presence at the show this year, as per Shrestha.
He also informed that almost every auto brand in the event has introduced lucrative schemes for customers on the purchase of vehicles throughout the event. NADA has expected to draw at least 50,000 visitors in the auto show this year.
[“source=thehimalayantimes”]
