Indra Gurung

Kathmandu, July 28:

In sharp contrast to the national slowdown in economic activities, the automobile sector has been on a continuous growth track over the last decade. From 131,839 vehicles being registered in 1993-1994, the figure has jumped to 472,795 in the fiscal year 2004-05. Official data provided by the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) shows that overall vehicle registration during the period grew by more than nine per cent. The number of various vehicles registered at DoTM stands at 40,531, whereas the figure was 39,699 in the previous fiscal. While this has been indicative of an increased purchasing capacity of people and changing lifestyle, it has also put the infrastructure of surface transport under unprecedented stress. For instance, only 35 km road was built during the fiscal year while the number of vehicles registered far exceeded the rate of supporting infrastructure. Continuous growth in automobile industry has been an attestation of the fact that a section of the society can absorb rising costs of vehicles and high taxes, despite the prolonged conflict and a sluggish economy.

Industry insiders attribute easy finance schemes at low interest rates and availability of numerous lucrative automobile models as main reasons for the increment. More interesting is the fact that out of total vehicles registered during the period, 23,579 are in the Bagmati zone alone. This clearly shows that almost 58 per cent of the total vehicles are registered in the Kathmandu valley alone. This has put an enormous pressure on the urban infrastructure in and around the Kathmandu valley. The construction and expansion of roads has simply been not enough to keep up with the growing number of vehicles. “Growth in real term is not satisfactory,” comments Hikmat Bahadur Mali, president of Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association. “The number of private vehicles and motorcycles has certainly increased, but the overall sector is not at a boom as predicted a few year back. It is not very illogical when the infrastructure is being developed at a snail’s pace,” he adds.

Of the total registered vehicles in the fiscal 2004-05, private vehicles account for more than 90 per cent at 36,584, while the number of commercial vehicles come second with 3,165. A total of 553 new vehicles are registered in the name of different government offices, 211 vehicles by various diplomatic missions and INGOs and 18 by state-owned corporations.

According to DoTM figures, two-wheelers (motorcycles and scooters) accounts more than 76

per cent of the total new vehicles registered during the period. The number of motorcycles stands at 31,093 and the four-wheeler passenger vehicle comes in second position with a total 4,781 being registered during the fiscal 2004-05. Tractor comes in third position at 1,374 and trucks at a fourth position with 1,085 new load carriers being registered during the period. An interesting fact to note is that not a single pick-up was registered during the entire fiscal while the number in the previous fiscal stood at 478. Likewise, entire Rapati zone had only one car registration during the period and only one Crain in the Narayani zone. Of the total number of imported vehicles, Indian brands hold the largest portion with approximately 70 per cent of the market and its share in terms of monetary value stands at 66 per cent.