Cabinet opens security printing centre to market competition, appoints new APF chief

Kathmandu: The government has decided to restructure the state-run Security Printing Centre into a commercially operating public institution, allowing it to compete directly with private sector firms in the secure printing business.

The decision was taken at Monday’s Cabinet meeting held at Singha Durbar, government spokesperson and Minister for Education, Science and Technology Sasmit Pokharel said.

According to him, the centre will now be formally listed as a public entity authorized to engage in commercial transactions while competing with private operators, and the related notice will be published in the Nepal Gazette.

The move is being viewed as a significant policy shift in Nepal’s secure printing framework, where government-controlled printing of sensitive materials such as passports, stamps, certificates, identity cards and other security documents has long remained largely administrative rather than commercially structured. By placing the institution in a competitive public-enterprise model, the government appears to be aiming to improve efficiency, reduce dependence on outsourcing, and create a revenue-generating state printing mechanism.

In another major decision, the Cabinet endorsed the new Customs Regulation 2083, signalling an impending update in customs administration and trade procedures. While the government has yet to release the full text of the revised regulation, officials say it is intended to align customs governance with changing import-export practices and revenue management priorities.

The meeting also appointed Narayan Dutta Paudel as the 13th Inspector General of the Armed Police Force, effective from May 2. He will succeed incumbent APF chief Raju Aryal, who is set to retire on May 1 after completing his four-year tenure.

Paudel, currently serving as Additional Inspector General and heading the Human Resource Department at APF Headquarters in Halchok, had been considered the frontrunner in the succession race owing to his seniority and prior leadership record.

His appointment comes at a sensitive time as Nepal’s security agencies remain under pressure to reinforce institutional credibility amid the government’s broader law-and-order restructuring drive.