What Nepal imports from India — the FY 2025/26 breakdown
Nepal imported roughly NPR 1,210 billion of goods from India in FY 2025/26, about 58% of its total import bill of NPR 2.096 trillion, according to the Department of Customs. Fuel, cooking gas, cereals, iron and steel, and vehicles dominate. India also absorbs more than 82% of Nepal's exports.
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How large is the India–Nepal trade relationship?
India is Nepal's largest trading partner by a distance and the only one that matters structurally. Nepal's total merchandise trade in FY 2025/26 (2082/83 BS) reached NPR 2.41 trillion: imports of NPR 2.096 trillion, up 16.20% year on year, against exports of NPR 315.29 billion, up 13.81%. The deficit widened 16.63% to NPR 1.78 trillion, an import-to-export ratio of 6.65 to 1.
Within that, India supplied NPR 1,210 billion of imports and bought NPR 258.65 billion of exports. No other partner comes close on either side. China sold Nepal NPR 425.24 billion and bought NPR 1.89 billion back — a ratio of roughly 225 to 1.
What does Nepal actually buy from India?
The import bill is dominated by things Nepal cannot produce and cannot substitute. Diesel alone accounted for NPR 172.43 billion, petrol NPR 77.26 billion and LPG NPR 60.28 billion. Iron and steel raw material came to NPR 58.52 billion, medicine NPR 29.15 billion.
| Commodity | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 172.43 bn | Petroleum products are imported almost entirely from India |
| Crude soybean oil | 132.77 bn | Mostly from Argentina, refined in Nepal for re-export |
| Petrol | 77.26 bn | India |
| LPG cooking gas | 60.28 bn | India |
| Iron & steel raw material | 58.52 bn | India and China |
| Smartphones | 48.69 bn | 2.26 million handsets |
| Medicine | 29.15 bn | India dominant |
| Gold | 26.78 bn | UAE and Switzerland |
| Silver | ~21 bn | Up roughly 508% year on year |
Where do the goods physically enter?
Nepal is landlocked and its import flow is concentrated at a handful of land crossings. Birgunj, opposite Raxaul, handled 46.9% of Nepal's total import value in FY 2025/26. Bhairahawa took 14.51%, Biratnagar 11.54% and Tribhuvan International Airport 9.71%.
For an importer this concentration is practical information, not trivia. It tells you where clearing capacity, transporters and agents actually are — and where a queue will form when something goes wrong.
What this means if you are buying from India
Two things. First, the volume means the corridor is well-served: transport, consolidation and clearing at Birgunj are commodity services, not favours. Second, Nepal charges customs duty of 0% to 80% plus 13% VAT on the CIF value, and India-origin goods get a preferential rebate off the MFN rate under the Treaty of Trade — a rebate, not an exemption. Landed cost, not ex-factory price, is the number that decides whether an order makes sense.
Nepal Department of Customs, Foreign Trade Statistics FY 2025/26 (2082/83 BS), preliminary and subject to revision. Nepal Rastra Bank.