Nepal unveils new Rs 100 note featuring disputed map, rekindling border tensions with India

Nepal’s central bank has released newly designed Rs 100 currency notes that feature the country’s updated national map, one that includes Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura, territories claimed by India.

The move has once again brought the long-running boundary dispute between the two neighbours back into sharp focus.

The revised note, unveiled on Thursday by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), incorporates the map adopted during the K P Sharma Oli government in 2020, when Nepal amended its political map to include the contested regions. At the time, New Delhi had condemned the decision as a 'unilateral act', calling the expansion an 'artificial enlargement' of territorial claims.

The Disputed Region

The Lipulekh Pass sits near Kalapani, an area where both countries assert ownership.

India considers Kalapani part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district.

Nepal claims it belongs to the Dharchula district.

Features of the New Note

The redesigned Rs 100 note carries the signature of former governor Maha Prasad Adhikari and is dated 2081 BS (2024).
It features:

Mt Everest on the left

A rhododendron watermark

A faint green outline of Nepal’s map at the centre

The Ashok Pillar with the inscription, “Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha”

On the reverse: a one-horned rhino, a security thread, and a tactile black embossed dot for the visually impaired

An NRB spokesperson noted that the national map already existed on older Rs 100 notes and has now been updated as per government instructions.

Only One Denomination Carries the Map

Among Nepal’s currency denominations, Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 500, and Rs 1,000, only the Rs 100 note features the national map.

Nepal shares over 1,850 km of border with five Indian states: Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

As the new Rs 100 notes enter circulation, the decades-old border dispute with India is set to resurface in diplomatic conversations once again, highlighting how sensitive and deeply rooted regional boundaries remain in South Asia.