The meeting of the Council of Ministers held on January 26 decided to increase the fees related to mountain climbing. In the case of foreign climbers, the salami fee to climb Mount Everest was increased from 11,000 dollars to 15,000 dollars, and in the case of Nepalese, it was increased from 75,000 rupees to 1.5 million rupees. This fee will be applicable from next August 16. Fees for other mountains have also been increased.

461 mountain climbing permit fees have been increased 18 July Cabinet meeting  For the next two years, all mountain climbing in Far West and Karnali Provinces has been made free. There are 97 mountains in these two provinces. Three of which are above seven thousand meters . The salami fee of these mountains ranges from 175 dollars to 500 dollars for foreigners.   From July 1, climbers will be able to climb mountains with a height of 5,870 meters to 7,132 meters without any climbing fee. Of the free climbing permits, 77 mountains belong to Karnali Province and 20 belong to Sudurpaschim Province. Himal Gautam, director of the tourism department, said that the mountains that have been opened for climbing are located in very remote areas. It is believed that this new rule will give some hope to increase the number.'

Tourists have not been able to climb these mountains because they are beyond the tourist trail and some of them are beyond the human settlements and in remote areas. Due to long distance but lack of road network and lack of essential facilities, such areas have not been chosen by tourists. Believing that the latest government effort will highlight the tourist destinations that are not discussed, Gautam said, 'This will help in employment, income and local economy.'

Rajendra Lama, a tourism entrepreneur and member of the Nepal Tourism Board, said that government policy alone is not enough. He stated that such destinations should be widely promoted by creating coordination between the general public, the private sector and the community, and said, 'And only such areas in Karnali and Far West are included in the list of destinations.' The locals of most of the areas where the government has made climbing free are not only dealing with the difficult lifestyle created by the lack of health and employment, they are also dealing with the effects of climate change . Lama said that there should be a study and research on how climate change is affecting the local people's livelihood in such areas and what is its effect on local production.

The government believes that the latest rule of the cabinet will lead the climbers to a new destination. In the

Tourism Bill, which was registered in the National Assembly on 5 Baisakh, a provision has been made for those who want to climb Mount Everest to have climbed a mountain above 7,000 meters within Nepal. The government believes that with such an arrangement, the number of climbers in mountains such as Saipal at a height of 7,300 meters, Api at a height of 7,132 meters and Api Paschim at a height of 7,760 meters can increase. Because according to the recent arrangement, these three mountains can be climbed without any fee. Nepal has opened 461 mountains for climbing, including Everest. In 2024, the government collected Rs 674.7 million for mountain climbing. In this, 592.23 million rupees were collected only from Everest. But there is little income from the mountains of Far West and Karnali Provinces. In the last two years, only 68 climbers from 21 climbing teams have climbed. From which the government has received a revenue of 14 lakh rupees . Therefore, there is no need to be excited only by the government's latest rules. Moreover, the government had tried in a similar style before. Around June 2065, the government announced that the fee for climbing some mountains in the Midwest and Far West regions will be waived for five years. Later, the government extended the climbing fee till 2075/76. During Visit Nepal 2020, the government also allowed free climbing of Api, Saipal, Ganesh Himal and Galgen Himal. But due to covid, the visit to Nepal was postponed.