KAVRE: The Security Printing Center in Panauti Municipality-5 has printed around 9,000 driving licenses with QR codes over the past two months. The Department of Transport Management stated that 8,983 licenses have been printed since the center resumed operations on November 7, 2025.
The center began printing after the Department’s mass printer was vandalized during the Gen-Z movement. Minister for Communications and Information Technology Jagadish Kharel inaugurated the license printing by pressing the printing press button on November 7. An agreement signed between the Center and the Department on October 29 requires the printing of 1.2 million licenses within six months.
Keshav Khatiwada, IT Director of the department, said that while 8,983 licenses have been printed, only 7,000 have been distributed so far. He added that approximately 3 million licenses, including those for new applicants and renewals, are yet to be printed.
The Department is preparing to print general licenses in batches of 100,000, with the center aiming to complete the remaining 1.191 million smart cards within the next two months.
Devraj Dhungana, the Center’s Executive Director, noted that the initial phase was a trial period, and printing will accelerate from mid-January with additional manpower. He added that the center plans to print 10,000 licenses per day once fully operational. In the first two weeks, 520 newly printed licenses were handed over to the department after successful testing in the center’s laboratory.
The new licenses use QR codes instead of chips and incorporate up to six levels of security technology with 34 visible and invisible security features. Apart from licenses, the center is preparing to print postage stamps, citizenship certificates, excise stickers, red papers, and visa stickers.
Two highly secure digital machines, imported from Iraq, have enabled the printing of up to 600 million excise stickers annually. Once fully operational, the center is expected to save Nepal around Rs 10 billion annually on secure printing. About 1,000 staff, including 200 technicians, will be required to run the center.
The government’s master plan, prepared in 2080 BS, aims to develop security printing in three phases: achieving self-reliance within five years, providing reliable services to SAARC and Southeast Asian countries within ten years, and expanding to other countries within 15 years.
The center was established by converting the unused Information Technology Park, which spans 257 ropanis and includes administrative and residential buildings, into a fully equipped security printing facility.
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