Kathmandu, May 6 (PTI) Permission has been granted to 441 climbers, including 79 women, from 55 countries as of Monday for climbing Mt Everest, the highest peak in the world, this spring, according to the Department of Tourism.

According to Himal Gautam, director at Nepal Tourism Department, permissions have been granted to 44 expeditions from 55 countries to climb the Everest (8,848.86 mt) so far.

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Among them, 75 are Indian climbers, including 12 women, he said. The Nepal government has collected royalty amounting to Nepalese Rs 653.8 million from the permission granted to climb the Everest this season.

The Tourism Department has granted permission to 1,095 climbers to climb 26 different mountain peaks, including the Everest, this spring, he said.

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Altogether 114 expeditions from 73 countries have received permission to climb the mountains. From this, a total of Nepalese Rs 748.1 million royalty has been collected, he said.

So far, more than 8,000 Nepalese and foreign climbers have summitted the Everest.

Hundreds of climbers have already reached the base camp of Everest and are moving towards higher altitude in their bid to climb the Everest and some of them are expected to reach the top by May 11 or 12, he said.

Ice doctors are currently fixing ropes to facilitate the climbers who are on their way to the top. Rope fixing has almost completed up to the South Col and on May 9-10 they are expected to complete their task up to the peak.

Nepal's 8K Expedition is currently engaged in the rope fixing job and they have deployed 12 Sherpa guides for the same.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)