Nepalgunj business suffers as customers opt for Indian markets
NEERAJ GAUTAM/RSS
NEPALGUNJ, Feb. 5: Traders in Nepalgunj, the commercial hub of the mid-western region, are worried as they have been receiving a few numbers of customers.
Rupaidiya, the Indian market across the border, has been the first selection of customers here for shopping. Not only during the festival times, but also in regular time, people here visit the Rupaidiya market for shopping including for daily consumer goods as they belief that shops there offer goods at low price.
Although purchasing goods from the Indian markets is not banned here, the government has the provision of collecting revenue for goods worth over Rs. 100. But, this provision has not been brought into practice which has caused a loss to the government and the local business people as well.
Although it is just a misconception that the local markets are more expensive than the Indian markets, it has been like a tradition here for visiting the markets in India to purchase goods. Besides, sometime the Nepali customers are reportedly cheated by Indian traders.
When this reporter spent four days in the Rupadiya market in course of reporting, he found that Ramdoot Cloth Store, A to Z sore, Agrawal Bastarlaya, Shivam Cloth Store and Ramdoot General Store received a flock of customers the whole days.
However, the Nepalgunj Customs Office is found indifferent to collect revenue from goods worth over Rs. three to five thousands.
"Although we have attempted many times to convince customers that local markets offer goods at reasonable price, our efforts went in vain," said President of Nepalgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sunil Kumar Sharma.
According to the statistics released by the Chamber, Nepali customers purchase household goods worth around 40-50 million rupees from Rupaidiya market every day.
Besides, Nepali customers pay higher price for the products of Nepal-based multinational companies in the Indian markets as they are not aware that such products are available at cheaper price in the domestic market.
Business of Nepalgunj would surely suffer if the customers were not made aware of the quality of goods available in the town and their prices and were not encouraged to visit the domestic markets for purchasing goods.
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Nepalgunj Business Suffers As Customers Opt For Indian Markets
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