KATHMANDU - The import of electric vehicles (EVs) into Nepal has been growing rapidly lately as the government is working on its new fiscal year budget.

By mid-May, the country had imported 9,850 electric four-wheelers and 7,344 of them came from China, the Department of Customs said on Wednesday.

In the past month, many more Chinese EVs had been shipped into the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung border point, with many of them being parked at the Rasuwa Customs Office and beyond for clearance, said Rabindra Prasad Pyakurel from the office.

"EV imports have been surging since mid-April," Pyakurel told Xinhua. "The number of electric four-wheelers coming from China has grown even more after mid-May."

He noted that since May 15, over 100 EVs had arrived at the border point each day for five days and "the number has doubled since then."

At the Tatopani-Zhangmu border point, the flow of EVs started to surge as well in mid-April.

"As a result, there are now around 700 electric four-wheelers parked inside the customs yard, while the number was below 200 in the past," said Surya Prasad Kafle, information officer at the Tatopani Customs.