KATHMANDU: Eleven electric vehicles (EVs) worth nearly Rs 89 million, damaged in last year’s Lhende Khola flood, have remained abandoned at the Timure Customs Yard in Rasuwa for the past year.
The vehicles have neither been cleared by importers through customs nor sent for auction, leaving them stranded at the customs premises.
The vehicles, valued at Rs 88.69 million, were buried in the devastating flood that struck on July 8, 2025. As they were completely damaged, importer CG Motors has shown no interest in claiming them.
The abandoned vehicles include 10 Xpeng G6 electric cars worth Rs 84.99 million and one electric van valued at Rs 3.7 million.
According to Chandi Raj Gelal, a non-gazetted officer at the Rasuwa Customs Office, the importer would have to pay customs duties amounting to around 40 percent of the vehicles’ market value, or approximately Rs 33.9 million, to clear them.
Customs officials said the vehicles have remained untouched since the flood because technical inspections required for insurance claims have yet to be completed.
The customs office also stated that it cannot dispose of or auction the vehicles as the importer has not submitted an official request either to hand them over to the government or to initiate the auction process.
“Once the importer formally notifies us that the vehicles were damaged by a natural disaster, we can conduct a valuation through a mechanical engineer and proceed with an auction. However, that process has not yet begun,” Gelal said.
The flood caused total damage of Rs 705.17 million to imported vehicles and goods within the Rasuwa Customs area.
A total of 56 electric and fuel-powered vehicles, valued at more than Rs 471.2 million, were swept away by the flood.
Among them, CG Motors alone lost 40 vehicles worth more than Rs 330.3 million. The flood also swept away eight vehicles belonging to Skywell Motors, five trucks owned by Spark Pvt. Ltd., and three trucks belonging to Evergreen Energy.
Although most of the damaged vehicles, except those of Skywell Motors, were insured, procedural delays have left many of them deteriorating inside the customs premises.
Photos: Prakash Chandra Timilsena/Nepal Photo Library
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