Why is Nepal special for India, there is such a huge business between the two countries

National News:  Ever since KP Sharma Oli's government has come to power in Nepal, Nepal's political and strategic relations have not been very good. Nepal has definitely been seen coming closer to China. Currently, Nepal's youth or say Gen Ji are seen on the streets. Their protest against the government is continuously increasing. Which includes many issues. The latest issue is to ban social media apps. Corruption, nepotism and distance from India are all the issues that Nepal's youth have brought to the streets.

By the way, India is also keeping an eye on this entire episode. There is a reason for this. Some states of India, especially some districts of Bihar and UP, share their borders with Nepal. Apart from this, Nepal is also very special for India. Nepal is India's 14th largest trading partner. While India exports goods worth more than 7 billion dollars to Nepal, it also buys goods worth more than 1 billion dollars from Nepal.

This means that there is a trade of more than 8 billion dollars between the two countries. About 10 years ago, Nepal was India's 28th largest trading partner. Let us tell you what kind of trade has been seen between the two countries in the last 5 years. Let us also try to understand what India sends to Nepal and what it takes from it.

How big is the trade between India and Nepal?

If we talk about the trade between the two countries, bilateral trade of more than $ 8 billion was seen in the financial year 2025. According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in the financial year 2025, India exported $ 7334.87 million i.e. about Rs 65 thousand crores. In return, India imported $ 1201.48 million i.e. more than Rs 10 thousand crores from Nepal. This means that India has a trade surplus of more than Rs 54 thousand crores with Nepal. This means that India gets a huge benefit in doing business with Nepal.

India-Nepal Trade Shows Fluctuations

In the last five years, trade between India and Nepal has shown fluctuations. In 2020-21, total trade was $7,511.62 million, which rose sharply to $11,016.79 million in 2021-22. It then declined to $8,855.61 million in 2022-23. The trade further fell to $7,872.09 million in 2023-24. However, in 2024-25, it recovered slightly, reaching $8,536.35 million.

How has the trade been in 5 years?

Talking about the last 5 years, the bilateral trade between the two countries has been very fluctuating. In the financial year 2021, the difference between the export and import of the two countries was quite large. Where India's export was $ 6,838.46 million. While the import was $ 673.16 million. The difference was about 10 times. At the same time, the financial year 2022 was very good in terms of export and import. The total trade between the two countries was $ 11 billion.

Which is 3 billion dollars more than the financial year 2025. While India's exports were more than 9.6 billion dollars. At the same time, imports from Nepal were more than 1.37 billion dollars. After that, trade between India and Nepal decreased significantly for two consecutive years. In the financial year 2023, the total trade was 8.85 billion dollars and in the financial year 2024 it further decreased to 7.87 billion dollars.

What goods does India export?

Nepal is highly dependent on India for many goods. Being a neighboring country, India also exports many goods to Nepal. This includes electricity and petroleum products. The country's government petroleum company IOCL has a huge export to Nepal. The special thing is that the work of oil distribution in Nepal is also done by IOCL. On the other hand, India also supplies electricity to Nepal at concessional rates. Apart from this, iron, steel, auto parts, medicines are some of the products on which Nepal is highly dependent on India.

Which goods does India import from Nepal?

If we talk about India's imports from Nepal, there are some essential goods which are imported from Nepal. India imports jute products from Nepal only. Also, tea, coffee and spices are such goods which come to India from Nepal only. Fiber and wooden goods are also imported from Nepal. Apart from this, India imports vegetable oil and fat in large quantities from Nepal. Textiles, fiber, salt, stone and other things are also imported from Nepal. The quantity of which is very high.