Nepal pre-qualifies security printers

The Central Bank of Nepal (Nepal Rastra Bank) has pre-qualified 10 security printers for the printing and supply of banknotes. From the article on Ekantipur.com: "(...) These firms, which were selected from among 11 applicants, are eligible to bid for contracts to print Nepali paper currency , the central bank said.

Among the short listed companies, two are from Germany and the rest are from China, Sweden, England, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Russia and Indonesia.

De La Rue Currency of England and Giesecke & Devrient GmbH of Germany have handled many printing orders for Nepali banknotes, according to NRB. “They were selected based on their technical qualification,” said a central bank official.

NRB had called for pre-qualification tenders in January. A senior NRB official said that the pre-qualified firms would be eligible to bid for printing contracts for at least two years or one round of printing of all the denominations of Nepali banknotes.

The central bank currently prints banknotes of Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations. The NRB official said that normally a firm quoting the lowest amount would be awarded the contract.

The central bank has planned to award the contract for printing Rs 100 notes during this fiscal year. It usually plans to keep stocks of paper currency for a period of three years and three months."

All the companies: