Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) has agreed to finance Rs 6 billion to construct the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project. A 456 megawatts hydroelectricity project is financed by domestic investors and being developed for an estimated cost of Rs 35.29 billion.

 

Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, the Deputy Managing Director of NTC and Mrigendra Bahadur Shrestha, the Project Director of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited (UTKHPL) signed the agreement.

 

Similarly, Employees Provident Fund has been investing Rs 10 billion, while Citizen’s Investment Trust and NTC have put Rs 2 billion and Rs 6 billion respectively for the project. The remaining Rs 11.8 billion will be generated by the government. The project, to be completed in 2015, has 70 per cent investment financed by loans and the rest 30 per cent from share capital. n

 

 

Samitivej to Manage Grande Services

Grande Hospital Nepal and Samitivej Hospital Thailand have reached an agreement for service management of the hospital. Dr Roop Jyoti, the President of Grande and Reymond Chong, the CEO and Managing Director of Samitivej signed an agreement to this effect recently in Kathmandu.

 

Grande Hospital, being constructed by CE Construction at Tokha, will have a capacity of 150 beds in a 14-storied building. The hospital plans to offer international standard health facilities at a low cost. Being constructed in a 210,000 square feet area, the building will be disabled-friendly. The hospital is being constructed at an investment of Rs 1.40 billion. It will have eight operation theatres, five elevators and four staircases. Jyoti hoped that once the hospital begins its services, the trend to go abroad for treatment will come to an end. n

 

 

MoTCA Seeks Updation of Hotel Standards

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) is working to update its criteria for hotel and restaurant standards. Keshav Prasad Bimali, the Joint Secretary at the ministry said, also on the cards is the change in the rule so that the hotels will be mandatorily required to register themselves with MoTCA. The code is being updated to accommodate the changes made in various policies and rules four years ago (2064 Bikram Sambat) when the existing code was promulgated, he said.

 

According to the existing rules, the hotels do not need to be registered with MoTCA. As a result it does not have a data on the number of hotels in operation. The code needs to be updated to include such requirements, remarked Shambhu Prasad Koirala, a Section Officer at the Hotel Division of the ministry. He said that this update will make it mandatory for hotels to be registered at the ministry and establish a renewal charge.

 

The ministry is also planning to form a working committee in coordination with the Hotel Association of Nepal, Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management and other concerned bodies for the upgradation and amendment of working directives.

 

The ministry said that the standard of existing five-star hotels need to be upgraded to meet SAARC standards. However, the ministry will update the code for five-star hotels only after updating the standards for the tourist-standard hotels. n

 

Machhapuchchhre Wins Inter-bank Volleyball

Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited has won the inter-bank volleyball tournament beating Kumari Bank Limited with a score of 23-25, 25-21, 32-30 and 25-18 in the final. The Bank was awarded Rs 50,000 cash prize and a trophy. The tournament was organised to commemorate the 56th anniversary of Nepal Rastra Bank. Kumari Bank took home Rs 35,000 and the runners-up trophy. Everest Bank Limited came third beating Agriculture Development Bank. n

 

 

NIDC’s 43rd AGM

Nepal Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC) held its 43rd annual general meeting on May 7 after a gap of nine years. The annual reports from 2002-02 to 2009-10 were presented by NIDC Chairman Shanta Bahadur Shrestha during the meet organised in its central office at Durbarmarg. Among the major resolutions of the AGM was the decicion to change its name into NIDC Bank Limited. Coinciding with the occasion, NIDC also started ATM service from its Durbarmarg office. n

 

 

Shalimar Begins Clinker Production

Shalimar Cement Industry, in cooperation with Unitech Pvt Ltd, has begun trial production of clinker, a raw material used for producing cement. The industry located at Bara-Parsa Corridor has an investment of Rs 700 million and produces 30 tonnes of clinker every day.