Panchakanya Plast Pvt Ltd, a Panchakanya Group company is introducing Chlorinated Poly Vinyl Chloride (CPVC) Pipes in the market soon. Harka Bahadur Thapamagar, the Sales Manager of the company said that the company has already begun the production of these pipes. “The manufacturing of mould needed for making the pipes is in the process and we will launch our product within a month,” he said.

 

According to Thapamagar, CPVC pipes are better alternatives to GI pipes for drinking water supply as the former are rust free and lightwieight to transport to remote locations. Panchakanya Plast has its factory near Bhairahawa.

 

Thapamagar claimed that Panchakanya is the first company to produce CPVC pipes in Nepal. These pipes are appropriate to use with both hot and cold water and can last up to 50 years. n

 

LIC (Nepal) Implements RDBMS

Life insurance Corporation (Nepal) Ltd has gone a step further in its IT initiatives by introducing web-based policy administration system, states a press release of the company. In 2008, LIC (Nepal) became the first Life Insurance Company to network all its branches across Nepal, enabling effective inter-branch communication system. By using RDBMS (Relational Data Base Management Systems) with the web-based front end architecture now, the company has achieved centralisation of its database, adds the press release promising that the new development will make servicing more effective, ensure real time transaction updation and also allow remote users to have access to latest data. This will also enable the company in the near future to provide online payment facility and 24x7 services to its customers, it adds.

 

The entire package has been developed in-house by the LIC of India using the latest technologies in the market and is very user friendly, according to the company. The package will also have the feature of maintaining customer ID to provide services to all the policies of one customer in a single window.

The module came into operation from 5th May 2011. n

 

New Industries in Patan Industrial Estate

Three new industrial units are being established in Patan Industrial Estate (PIE). The new units are added are Shakti Food Pvt Ltd, Siddhilaxmi Plastic Industry and Nepal Commercial Industry.

 

Prem Nepal, the Manager of Patan Industrial Estate said that two other industrial units are planning to expand capacity while another one plans to revive its operation.

 

Siddhilaxmi is investing Rs 10 million while Rs 100 million is being invested in Shakti Food. Nepal Commercial’s investment has not been finalised yet, according to Pushkar Paudel, the Manager of the company which is currently the authorised distributor of Indian furniture brand ‘Godrej’ in Nepal. The PIE plant of Nepal Commercial will be assembling furniture.

 

Shakti Food plans to introduce ‘Martin’ brand of ice-cream in the market and will have a daily production capacity of 20,000 litres. Besides ice-creams, it will also produce other dairy products.

 

Shakti Shrestha, the operator of Siddhilaxmi Plastic industry informed it will start producing plastic bottles within the next couple of months. n

 

 

Infrastructure Bonds in USD

 

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is mooting a policy to allow purchase of big infrastructure project bonds by paying US dollars. The NRB has begun internal discussions for formulating such policy so as to attract foreign investment in big projects. A source at the NRB revealed that the policy is being prepared to attract foreign investments in hydroelectricity and other big projects.

 

People who buy such bonds by paying US dollars will get the interest in US dollars. Similarly, the principal amount too will be returned upon maturity in US dollars.

 

With this policy, also the foreigners can buy bonds issued by Nepal. But some legal formalities have to completed before such bonds can be issued. For example, the existing law has to be amended, said a source in the NRB.

 

These bonds can be bought also by the NRNs, companies and persons having regular income in US dollars. However, the NRB will be barred, according to the surce, from buying such bonds though it is allowed to buy foreign bonds with the foreign currency reserve it holds.

 

The big infrastructure projects that require huge capital can issue such bonds through merchant banks, according to the proposal. A number of the promoters of large projects have asked the NRB for a provision to allow foreign investors buy their bonds due to the scarcity of capital within the country to invest in such big projects. n

 

 

Minimum Wage Controversy

The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management has unilaterally fixed the minimum wage amidst opposition from Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and three major trade unions.

 

Krishna Hari Pushkar, the spokesperson at the ministry said the minimum wage was fixed considering two previous agreements made on March 24 and April 15. He said, “Minimum wage has been fixed taking into consideration the concerns of both employers and employees.”

 

The minimum wage has been increased from Rs 4,600 to Rs 6,200. Similarly, the daily wage has been increased from Rs 190 to Rs 231.

 

Pashupati Murarka, the Vice President of FNCCI said the employers won’t agree to any agreement published in Nepal Gazette that goes against the one made on March 24. He alleged that the notice was published in the gazette without consulting the employers.

 

An official at the FNCCI alleged that the minimum wage has been fixed as per the demand of Madhesi trade unions since the Labour Minister represents the Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum.

 

Bishnu Rimal, the President of General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) said that new agreements should not be implemented before dismissing the old ones. He said that they are currently following the agreement made on March 24. n

 

 

Bluebird Mart Inaugurated

Bluebird Shopping Complex has come to operation in a changed form. Now called Bluebird Mart, it has added a new departmental store and two world-renowned chain restaurants. The Mart was inaugurated on May 17 by Miss Nepal Sadikshya Shrestha. KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants are scheduled to open soon, according to Binod Tuladhar, the Managing Director of Bluebird Mall.

 

He also informed that the Yellow Chilly, an Indian chain restaurant will also be added to the property later. n

 

 

 

 

Five-star Hotels Register 80 per cent Occupancy

The occupancy rate of the five-star hotels in the first four months of Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011 has touched 80 per cent. Raju Bikram Shah, the Senior General Manager of Hotel Shangri-La said, “Hotel occupancy in the first four months of this year has increased by 10 per cent when compared with the same period last year.”

 

With the mountaineering season picking up momentum, some hotels have registered more than 80 per cent occupancy for April. However, Shah said the hotels should have 100 per cent occupancy due to NTY programmes. Encouraged by the positive response for the first four months, hotel entrepreneurs are hopeful that occupancy will remain high in the coming months as well.

 

According to Bharat Joshi, the Marketing Director of Hotel Yak and Yeti, the occupancy rate increased with the trekking and mountaineering season. Hotel entrepreneurs further expect growth in tourist arrivals with the advent of pilgrimage season for Kailash-Mansarobar.

 

In April, Hotel Shangrila had 87 percent occupancy, while Hotel Yak and Yeti had 79 percent, Hotel Soaltee 78 percent and Hotel Fulbari around 80 per cent. Five-star hotels claim the tourist flow increased because of their promotional efforts in the international market. They added that they spend Rs 400 million annually for overseas tourism promotion. n

 

 

NTB’s ‘Border City Sales Mission’

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has begun a tourism promotion campaign ‘Border City Sales Mission’ in the Indina cities close to the Nepal border. According to NTB, sales mission has been started in Indian cities of Kanpur, Varanasi and Lucknow. Lila Bahadur Bania, a Manager in the NTB said that the campaign was started as the Indian tourists were not coming to Nepal in large numbers. n

 

 

 

Petroleum Import Exceeds Total Export

The revenue generated from Nepal’s export cannot even buy petroleum products required for the country, according to the recent trade data. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 47.98 billion by mid-April of the current fiscal year while the country spent Rs 50.26 billion for importing petroleum products during the same period, show the data released by the country’s trade monitoring body Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC).

 

By mid-April of last fiscal year, petroleum imports were worth Rs 35.22 billion.

 

Nepal had to spend more for petroleum products due to two reasons. One was the unrest in the Middle-East that led to an increase in price of the petroleum in the world market. Second was the increase in the demand within the country due to lengthened power outage due to failure to increase power generation from the country’s hydropower plants.

 

In the same period of the current fiscal year, Nepal has imported goods worth Rs 287 billion. So, Nepal’s trade deficit has reached Rs 239 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, according to TEPC.

 

Even though the imports of petroleum products and iron and steel have increased, there is a decrease in the import of machineries, electronics, vehicle spare parts and gold. In the first nine months of the last fiscal year, gold worth Rs 24.61 billion was imported but it has decreased to Rs 4.62 billion this year, a decline of 87.7 per cent. n