The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are engaged in high-level talks to allow the unrestricted, bulk transfer of Indian currency (INR) between the banking systems of India and Nepal.
When implemented, this initiative will modernize the transfer mechanism, moving beyond reliance on physical currency movement and allowing large-volume transfers via digital, interbank channels. This could be a big breakthrough to allow transfer of Indian money between banks in the two countries in Large volume, easing trade and tourism.
Recently in Mumbai, there was a meeting between NRB governor Vishwanath Paudel and RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra in RBI Headquarters.
The two governors discussed monetary policy, foreign exchange management and liquidity management. There was a discussion on the ease of payment through QR code by Nepali citizens when travelling to India. Presently, Indian tourists can pay for various services and goods through QR code through their banking system in Nepal.
As of December 15, 2025, Indian Rupee currency notes of 200 and 500 denominations can now be carried up to 25,000 INR inside Nepal. The government has made arrangements to allow Nepali and Indian citizens to bring into the country and take to India a maximum of 25,000 INR of these denominations. The currency notes to be allowed have to be those issued since November 9, 2016. With the notice to allow the circulation of higher denominations of Indian currency in the Nepali market, travel, trade, and remittances will become easier.
According to sources, the present talks also touch upon the approximately INR 50 million in banned 500 and 1000 notes still held in the Nepali banking system since the 2016 demonetization. In Nepal, on December 13, 2018 Indian currency notes above INR 100 were banned. No nepali travellers, banks and financial institutions were allowed to hold or transact in indian currency from the notice issued by Nepal Rashtriya Bank
