License printing begins at Security Printing Center

KATHMANDU: The government has officially started printing driving licenses using its own security printing equipment, ending years of reliance on foreign contractors.

The Security Printing Center under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology began the printing process from its facility in Banepa, Kavre, on Friday. Communications and Information Technology Minister Jagadish Kharel inaugurated the operation.

Minister Kharel stated that despite legal hurdles and administrative difficulties, the government prioritized the need to resume license printing.

He remarked that the machines had been unused for years, covered in dust and left idle, making the facility appear abandoned. “We cleaned the machines and restarted them. Now the printing has begun,” he said.

According to the minister, the center’s infrastructure is capable of printing national identity cards, passports, land ownership certificates, postal stamps, excise stickers, and more. “There are currently around 2.8 million driving licenses waiting to be printed,” he added.

Until now, Nepal had been outsourcing the printing of driving licenses, passports, and other official documents to foreign companies.

Kharel emphasized that policy reforms allowed the government to resume domestic printing operations.

Executive Director of the Security Printing Center, Devraj Dhungana, said that technical and legal complications had been resolved before launching operations.

In the first phase, printing will proceed under an agreement to produce 1.2 million licenses.

The center will initially print around 500 licenses per day, gradually increasing the output.

The center has received an investment of nearly Rs 3 billion to date.

Along with driving licenses, the printing of citizenship certificates, excise stickers, postal stamps, land ownership certificates, and visa stickers is also set to begin.