Severe fuel crisis looms large
ArthaExpress, 6-May-08
The country is likely to witness a severe crisis of petroleum products again after the cash-strapped Nepal Oil Corporation slashed distribution of petroleum products by nearly 50 per cent in the capital.
NOC supplies manager Mukunda Dhungel said the Corporation headquarters had directed its Thankot depot to distribute only 410 kl of petroleum products a day to the dealers from Sunday, while the demand stands at around 800 kl.
“We had to take the harsh decision as we don’t have the money to finance regular import with the price of fuel surging in the international market,” Dhungel said.
Shortly after the CA polls on April 10, the state-run oil monopoly had slashed the supply of diesel and kero-sene to dealers by nearly 25 per cent. “Supply would go down further in the days to come if no immediate intervention is made to regularise the import,” Dhungel said.
An NOC source said the Corporation plans to import only 75,000 kl of oil this month as compared to 83,000 kl it imported last month.
The supply will keep on decreasing unless the government immediately came to its rescue — inject more money to cover for the ever-growing losses due to subsidies or hike in international prices, the source said.
“Nepali consumers would face unprecedented crisis, something beyond their imagination, within the next few days if the government did not take a bold decision immediately,” cautioned Shiva Prasad Ghimire, chairman of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ Association.
Dealers added that the customers had yet panicked as black marketeers and customers had been hoarding fuel for the past few months in the face of crisis. “But they will inevitably feel the heat within the next few days when the stock even in the black market finishes,” Ghimire added.
The Corporation could release only INRs 640 million to the Indian Oil Corporation, the sole exporter, on May 2. Going by the prevailing prices in the international market, Nepal needs to pay around INRs 3.57 billion each month if it is to ensure smooth supply.
The flow of oil had considerably improved in the run-up to the April 10 election, as the IOC had agreed to maintain a steady supply for the crucial vote as requested by Nepal government.
“Now the import depends on our capacity to finance it,” Dhungel said. On the other hand, NOC complains, as per the revised price of oil forwarded by the IOC on May 2, it would now incur a whopping loss of Rs 1.67 billion per month.
NOC and dealers maintain that it is high time that the government indulged in groundwork to hike the price rather than bleeding the exchequer to make up for the losses due to heavy subsidi-es, poor management of the corporation and leakages.
But it is likely to take a few more weeks before serious steps were taken to review the prices since the incumbent government is not taking the initiative and the new government appears at least a month away, stakeholders said.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Nepal's inflation at 7.2pc
eKantipur.com, 7-May-08
On the back of soaring food prices, consumer inflation has shot up to 7.2 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, according to the latest central bank report.
The report on the latest macroeconomic situation released Wednesday says, the upward pressure on inflation came mainly due to substantial increase in the prices of rice, oil and ghee.
According to the report, food and beverages became dearer by 9.4 percent over this period, as the prices of oil and ghee increased by 27.3 percent, grains and cereal products by 14.9 percent and pulses by 13.7 percent. However, consumers found respite in prices of items like sugar and sugar-related products; vegetables and fruits; and spices during this period.
Over this period, the price of tobacco and tobacco related products also increased by 8.3 percent; housing goods and services by 6.1 percent; and medicine and personal care by 5.8 percent.
The price rise was felt most in the hilly regions of the country, followed by the tarai region and Kathmandu Valley, reads the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) report.
The report notes the gloom running in the country's industries and trade over the eight months as well.
During the period, the country's total exports went down by 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year. "Of the total exports, exports to India plummeted by 6.9 percent. Exports to other countries, however, grew by 7.2 percent during the period," says the report.
Likewise, total imports increased by 12.5 percent during the period, in contrast to a decline of 1.1 percent recorded in the same period the previous year. Imports from India and other countries went up by 15 percent and 8.2 percent respectively.
According to the report, travel receipts soared by 76.3 percent and workers' remittances also grew by 28.1 percent during the period.
As a result, the current account recorded a surplus of Rs 10.41 billion during the period. The overall balance of payments posted a surplus of Rs. 13.29 billion.
The country's foreign exchange reserves posted double digit growth to Rs 181.98 billion in mid-March 2008, states the report, adding that the reserves are adequate for financing merchandise imports for 11.3 months.
Compared to mid-July 2007, the Nepali currency appreciated by 0.56 percent vis-à-vis the US dollar in mid-March 2008.
eKantipur.com, 7-May-08
On the back of soaring food prices, consumer inflation has shot up to 7.2 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, according to the latest central bank report.
The report on the latest macroeconomic situation released Wednesday says, the upward pressure on inflation came mainly due to substantial increase in the prices of rice, oil and ghee.
According to the report, food and beverages became dearer by 9.4 percent over this period, as the prices of oil and ghee increased by 27.3 percent, grains and cereal products by 14.9 percent and pulses by 13.7 percent. However, consumers found respite in prices of items like sugar and sugar-related products; vegetables and fruits; and spices during this period.
Over this period, the price of tobacco and tobacco related products also increased by 8.3 percent; housing goods and services by 6.1 percent; and medicine and personal care by 5.8 percent.
The price rise was felt most in the hilly regions of the country, followed by the tarai region and Kathmandu Valley, reads the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) report.
The report notes the gloom running in the country's industries and trade over the eight months as well.
During the period, the country's total exports went down by 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year. "Of the total exports, exports to India plummeted by 6.9 percent. Exports to other countries, however, grew by 7.2 percent during the period," says the report.
Likewise, total imports increased by 12.5 percent during the period, in contrast to a decline of 1.1 percent recorded in the same period the previous year. Imports from India and other countries went up by 15 percent and 8.2 percent respectively.
According to the report, travel receipts soared by 76.3 percent and workers' remittances also grew by 28.1 percent during the period.
As a result, the current account recorded a surplus of Rs 10.41 billion during the period. The overall balance of payments posted a surplus of Rs. 13.29 billion.
The country's foreign exchange reserves posted double digit growth to Rs 181.98 billion in mid-March 2008, states the report, adding that the reserves are adequate for financing merchandise imports for 11.3 months.
Compared to mid-July 2007, the Nepali currency appreciated by 0.56 percent vis-à-vis the US dollar in mid-March 2008.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Rising food prices
Rising food prices
eKantipur, 6-May-08
Editorial
The specter of rising food prices is hurting Nepali consumers. That escalating agro-commodity prices are pushing up inflation is reason enough for the government to worry. In an attempt to temper the high prices, the government has come up with two measures — banning wheat exports and selling rice from the inventory of the Nepal Food Corporation. However, the food price rise is not an aberration only for Nepal; it is now a global phenomenon caused by rising consumption in emerging economies, escalating fuel prices and massive use of grain for producing bio-fuel. It is projected that agro-prices will stay on an upward trajectory, at least for the next several months. But our production has not kept pace with the increase in demand. Against this background, the government's steps are virtually meaningless. More needs to be done.
The government should crack down on the practice of hoarding, which normally happens in Nepal at times of deficit. On top of that, a string of policy measures is necessary to address supply-side shortages. It might make sense for the government to ban the export of wheat to keep domestic prices under control in the short run. However, bans and other restrictions have to be imposed without hurting the interests of producers at home. Anyway, all these are short-term solutions. Food security calls for long-term planning in order to correct the widening mismatch between demand and supply. Food grains do not fetch attractive prices, and farmers are migrating to cash crops. There is a need to incentivize farmers to produce cereal crops, as income from farming is inadequate to cover increasing input costs.
One way to make food grain cultivation profitable is to increase productivity. Output enhancement depends on how efficiently and quickly we can upgrade cultivation technology, boost private sector investment on a massive scale and develop basic infrastructure like irrigation, agricultural roads and electrification. A number of reports have blamed low-quality fertilizers and insecticides for the almost stagnant productivity of major food crops. A steep rise in yield is possible if we judiciously use available technologies, and for that we need to educate our farmers. We should also seriously think of reintroducing subsidies to install basic infrastructure like shallow tube wells to raise the yield per hectare of cereal crops like rice and wheat, which is far below the regional average. As such, the focus ought to be on increasing productivity and plugging leakages in procurement and distribution if food prices are to be kept under check. All such policies have to benefit both producers and consumers. We cannot betray the interests of the urban poor, the rural landless and small and marginal farmers. We must ensure that they do not lose because of shortages and soaring prices. This is possible only by raising income levels by commercializing farming and fostering economic growth.
eKantipur, 6-May-08
Editorial
The specter of rising food prices is hurting Nepali consumers. That escalating agro-commodity prices are pushing up inflation is reason enough for the government to worry. In an attempt to temper the high prices, the government has come up with two measures — banning wheat exports and selling rice from the inventory of the Nepal Food Corporation. However, the food price rise is not an aberration only for Nepal; it is now a global phenomenon caused by rising consumption in emerging economies, escalating fuel prices and massive use of grain for producing bio-fuel. It is projected that agro-prices will stay on an upward trajectory, at least for the next several months. But our production has not kept pace with the increase in demand. Against this background, the government's steps are virtually meaningless. More needs to be done.
The government should crack down on the practice of hoarding, which normally happens in Nepal at times of deficit. On top of that, a string of policy measures is necessary to address supply-side shortages. It might make sense for the government to ban the export of wheat to keep domestic prices under control in the short run. However, bans and other restrictions have to be imposed without hurting the interests of producers at home. Anyway, all these are short-term solutions. Food security calls for long-term planning in order to correct the widening mismatch between demand and supply. Food grains do not fetch attractive prices, and farmers are migrating to cash crops. There is a need to incentivize farmers to produce cereal crops, as income from farming is inadequate to cover increasing input costs.
One way to make food grain cultivation profitable is to increase productivity. Output enhancement depends on how efficiently and quickly we can upgrade cultivation technology, boost private sector investment on a massive scale and develop basic infrastructure like irrigation, agricultural roads and electrification. A number of reports have blamed low-quality fertilizers and insecticides for the almost stagnant productivity of major food crops. A steep rise in yield is possible if we judiciously use available technologies, and for that we need to educate our farmers. We should also seriously think of reintroducing subsidies to install basic infrastructure like shallow tube wells to raise the yield per hectare of cereal crops like rice and wheat, which is far below the regional average. As such, the focus ought to be on increasing productivity and plugging leakages in procurement and distribution if food prices are to be kept under check. All such policies have to benefit both producers and consumers. We cannot betray the interests of the urban poor, the rural landless and small and marginal farmers. We must ensure that they do not lose because of shortages and soaring prices. This is possible only by raising income levels by commercializing farming and fostering economic growth.
Monday, May 05, 2008
CA members to consume 300 million in monthly perks
CA members to consume 300 mln in monthly perks
Telegraph Nepal, 3-May08
A latest report published in the Naya Patrika(NP) Daily states that more than 3 crore rupees are required per month for the salary of the Constituent Assembly members in Nepal for the coming two years period during which the CA is to draft a new constitution.
All the 601 members of the CA will receive in total 45 thousand 98 rupees each per month adds NP daily. A colossal amount by any means for a poor and donor driven country like Nepal.
The president of the Constituent Assembly will however, receive net salary of 28 thousand 8 hundred rupees plus 29 thousand rupees for the purpose of the home rent, 2 thousand 5 hundred in miscellaneous, newspaper cost 3 hundred rupees and 2 hundred fifty liters of petrol per month.
Similarly, the vice president of the CA is fixed 24 thousand 3 hundred rupees as a monthly salary. The vice president will receive 6 thousand 7 hundred rupees for the drinking water and electricity purposes; home rent 10 thousand rupees, miscellaneous 1 thousand seven hundred; news papers 3 hundred rupees; petrol 2 hundred liters.
The members of the CA will receive 23 thousand one hundred net salaries; Drinking Water & Electricity one thousand 2 hundred forty eight rupees; Telephone cost 2 thousand rupees; home rent 6 thousand; miscellaneous 1 thousand and newspapers 3 hundred rupees per month.
They CA meeting is to be convened at the BICC (Birendra International Convention Center) at New Baneshwor. The government has already earmarked 1 crore 38 Lakh rupees for replacing old chairs and tables by new ones and repairing the microphones.
At today’s market price, the petrol costs 89 rupees per litre.
The road to a new Nepal thus begins.
Telegraph Nepal, 3-May08
A latest report published in the Naya Patrika(NP) Daily states that more than 3 crore rupees are required per month for the salary of the Constituent Assembly members in Nepal for the coming two years period during which the CA is to draft a new constitution.
All the 601 members of the CA will receive in total 45 thousand 98 rupees each per month adds NP daily. A colossal amount by any means for a poor and donor driven country like Nepal.
The president of the Constituent Assembly will however, receive net salary of 28 thousand 8 hundred rupees plus 29 thousand rupees for the purpose of the home rent, 2 thousand 5 hundred in miscellaneous, newspaper cost 3 hundred rupees and 2 hundred fifty liters of petrol per month.
Similarly, the vice president of the CA is fixed 24 thousand 3 hundred rupees as a monthly salary. The vice president will receive 6 thousand 7 hundred rupees for the drinking water and electricity purposes; home rent 10 thousand rupees, miscellaneous 1 thousand seven hundred; news papers 3 hundred rupees; petrol 2 hundred liters.
The members of the CA will receive 23 thousand one hundred net salaries; Drinking Water & Electricity one thousand 2 hundred forty eight rupees; Telephone cost 2 thousand rupees; home rent 6 thousand; miscellaneous 1 thousand and newspapers 3 hundred rupees per month.
They CA meeting is to be convened at the BICC (Birendra International Convention Center) at New Baneshwor. The government has already earmarked 1 crore 38 Lakh rupees for replacing old chairs and tables by new ones and repairing the microphones.
At today’s market price, the petrol costs 89 rupees per litre.
The road to a new Nepal thus begins.
Shares to flood capital market
Shares to flood capital market
ArthaExpress, 4-May-08
Do save – buying shares is the best way to invest your hard earned money. And, there are some 10 financial companies – one commercial bank, four development banks and five finance companies – on the pipeline to float pubic shares worth about half-a-billion rupees.
Of them, the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has already given green signal to eight — three development banks and five finance companies — to float initial public offering (IPO).
“We are studying the applications of Global Bank and Pashupati Development Bank,” said Binaya Dev Acharya, deputy director at the Corporate Finance Division of Sebon.
Global Bank has assigned NIDC Capital markets Ltd as its issue manager. Apart from these ten financial institutions, two more commercial banks are also preparing to float Rs 300 million worth shares to public, each.
Prime Commercial Bank has already assigned Citizen Investment Trust as its sales and issue manager and the Bank of Asia has picked Nepal Merchant Banking and Finance Company as issue manager.
According to the new regulation of Nepal Rastra Bank, the financial companies must issue 30 per cent minimum shares to the public. Lately, the central bank has also fixed the paid up capital for the finance companies (at Rs 200 million), development banks (Rs 640 million) and commercial banks (Rs 2 billion).
The central bank’s regulation requires already established financial companies to increase their paid up capital by the end of fiscal year 2012-13.
However, the financial institutions are floating the shares according to the current structure of their paid up capital. The financial institutions play a dominent role in our capital market as it has more than 80 per cent weightage in the total listed companies.
New IPOs
• Global Bank is floating 30,00,000-unit worth 300 million rupees
• Pashupati Development Bank is floating 8,00,000 -unit of shares worth Rs 8,00,000,00
• Subekchhkya Development Bank is floating 1,20,000-unit shares worth Rs 1,20,00,000,
• Triveni Development Bank is floating 1,50,000-unit shares worth Rs 1,50,000,00
• Clean Energy Development Bank is floating 9,60,000-unit shares worth Rs 9,60,000,00.
• Kaski Finance Company is floating 2,00,000-unit of shares worth Rs 2,00,000,00
• Shikhar Finance Company is floating 2,00,000-unit of shares worth Rs 2,00,000,00
• Sagarmatha Merchant Banking and Finance is floating 2,00,000-unit shares worth Rs 2,00,000,00
• Reliable Investment Finance Company is floating 2,47,500-unit shares worth Rs 2,47,500,00
• Lord Buddha Finance Company is floating 2,25,000-unit shares worth Rs 2,25,000,00
ArthaExpress, 4-May-08
Do save – buying shares is the best way to invest your hard earned money. And, there are some 10 financial companies – one commercial bank, four development banks and five finance companies – on the pipeline to float pubic shares worth about half-a-billion rupees.
Of them, the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has already given green signal to eight — three development banks and five finance companies — to float initial public offering (IPO).
“We are studying the applications of Global Bank and Pashupati Development Bank,” said Binaya Dev Acharya, deputy director at the Corporate Finance Division of Sebon.
Global Bank has assigned NIDC Capital markets Ltd as its issue manager. Apart from these ten financial institutions, two more commercial banks are also preparing to float Rs 300 million worth shares to public, each.
Prime Commercial Bank has already assigned Citizen Investment Trust as its sales and issue manager and the Bank of Asia has picked Nepal Merchant Banking and Finance Company as issue manager.
According to the new regulation of Nepal Rastra Bank, the financial companies must issue 30 per cent minimum shares to the public. Lately, the central bank has also fixed the paid up capital for the finance companies (at Rs 200 million), development banks (Rs 640 million) and commercial banks (Rs 2 billion).
The central bank’s regulation requires already established financial companies to increase their paid up capital by the end of fiscal year 2012-13.
However, the financial institutions are floating the shares according to the current structure of their paid up capital. The financial institutions play a dominent role in our capital market as it has more than 80 per cent weightage in the total listed companies.
New IPOs
• Global Bank is floating 30,00,000-unit worth 300 million rupees
• Pashupati Development Bank is floating 8,00,000 -unit of shares worth Rs 8,00,000,00
• Subekchhkya Development Bank is floating 1,20,000-unit shares worth Rs 1,20,00,000,
• Triveni Development Bank is floating 1,50,000-unit shares worth Rs 1,50,000,00
• Clean Energy Development Bank is floating 9,60,000-unit shares worth Rs 9,60,000,00.
• Kaski Finance Company is floating 2,00,000-unit of shares worth Rs 2,00,000,00
• Shikhar Finance Company is floating 2,00,000-unit of shares worth Rs 2,00,000,00
• Sagarmatha Merchant Banking and Finance is floating 2,00,000-unit shares worth Rs 2,00,000,00
• Reliable Investment Finance Company is floating 2,47,500-unit shares worth Rs 2,47,500,00
• Lord Buddha Finance Company is floating 2,25,000-unit shares worth Rs 2,25,000,00
Saturday, May 03, 2008
People power to hydropower
People power to hydropower
A Nepal-India conference in Bihar zeroes in on water resources
Nepali Times, Issue #398 (2-May08 to 8-May-08)
KUNDA DIXIT in PATNA
Initially caught off-guard by Nepal’s constituent assembly election results, New Delhi is hoping to do business with a Maoist-led government especially on water resources.
Publicly, the Indians say they are happy with whatever result, but there seems to be nervousness about Maoist policy on strategic issues like water, power and geopolitics.
“Some people seem to think we were caught by surprise with the result,” says Shyam Saran, former ambassador to Kathmandu and ex-Foreign Secretary, “but India doesn’t play favourites in Nepal. We can do business with any political dispensation.”
But past Maoist pronouncements, including an interview by Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2000 in which he boasted the Maoists would fight the Indian Army if necessary and frequent references to “Indian expansionism” in Dahal’s campaign speeches haven’t helped allay Indian unease.
When the Maoists won the election, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs nearly cancelled a previously-scheduled conference here in the Bihar capital to discuss Indo-Nepal relations. Even though some high-profile guests and speakers dropped out, the meeting went ahead as scheduled on 26-27 April.
Saran and Indian State Minister for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh stayed for the whole two-day conference attended by 40 invited participants from Nepal. The Nepali delegation was headed by Minister for Physical Planning and Infrastructure, Hisila Yami, and also included Maoist leader CP Gajurel.
Bihar is suffering a crippling power shortage this summer, and the Ganges is almost dry. But in a few months, as every year, most of the state will be inundated by floods. It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that a recurrent theme at the conference was water and power.
“In Bihar we only think of Nepal during the monsoon floods,” quipped Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s chief minister in his keynote address. “We have a common problem of poverty and we can tackle that by mutual cooperation on the Kosi High Dam." How to deal with displacement of people in Nepal and the Kosi's massive silt load was not broached.
Yami didn’t want to be dragged into specifics, but responded: “People on both sides of the border would benefit from transparency and accountability in political and economic commitments... particularly in the areas of flood control.”
Kumar saw storing monsoon runoff on Himalayan high dams as mutually beneficial. But given perceptions of unfair treatment on Kosi and Gandaki in the 1960s, India may need to do more to build trust among Nepalis about river sharing. It didn’t help that Indian officials kept urging Nepal to follow the “Bhutan model”.
In the past six months two Indian private companies have signed MoUs for the 300MW Upper Karnali and 400MW Arun III. Adding West Seti and Budi Gandaki, the total power agreement with India would go up to nearly 1,800MW.
Minister Ramesh was optimistic that all this would lead to bigger and better things. “We are no longer talking about a pie in the sky,” he said, “we have made progress and a final push on joint projects by the new government is all that is required.”
Ramesh tried to assure Nepali visitors that India was not “coveting and salivating” over Himalayan rivers, but would like to see mutual cooperation also benefit Nepal with power, irrigation and balance of payments. “One major project exporting power to India would wipe out Nepal’s trade deficit with India,” he said.
Saran echoed the view. “Nepal has to start seeing India not as a threat but as an opportunity, you are next door to a country of one billion growing at eight percent with which you have an open border,” he said, “Nepal is not India-locked, it is India-open.”
Participants said India-Nepal economic cooperation has suffered because Nepali nationalism is often defined by anti-Indianism. Former JNU professor S D Muni advised the Maoists not to fall into that trap. “The new rulers of Nepal don’t have to fall back on that nationalist agenda, and India shouldn’t try to play pawns and bishops in Nepal.”
Seven years ago when India’s Power Trading Corporation’s Tantra Naryan Thakur came to Nepal to explore electricity import prospects, he remembers Nepali officials assuring him that Nepal could export 150MW by 2007. “Today, Nepal is buying power from India,” Thakur told the conference.
But he said India’s demand for power would grow to 200,000 MW by 2018. If Nepal could fast-track projects to generate just 10,000MW in ten years, consume 2,000MW itself and export the rest to India it could earn $2.7 billion a year, Thakur said.
Foreign investors in Nepal, however, say they need to feel that they are not wasting their time. Dabur India is one investor which has stuck it out in Nepal through the conflict years. Its CEO, Udayan Ganguly said: “Nepal needs to create the right atmosphere for investors by resolving labour issues, violence and insecurity. Unless swift action is taken, the few investors that remain may decide it’s not worth it.”
A Nepal-India conference in Bihar zeroes in on water resources
Nepali Times, Issue #398 (2-May08 to 8-May-08)
KUNDA DIXIT in PATNA
Initially caught off-guard by Nepal’s constituent assembly election results, New Delhi is hoping to do business with a Maoist-led government especially on water resources.
Publicly, the Indians say they are happy with whatever result, but there seems to be nervousness about Maoist policy on strategic issues like water, power and geopolitics.
“Some people seem to think we were caught by surprise with the result,” says Shyam Saran, former ambassador to Kathmandu and ex-Foreign Secretary, “but India doesn’t play favourites in Nepal. We can do business with any political dispensation.”
But past Maoist pronouncements, including an interview by Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2000 in which he boasted the Maoists would fight the Indian Army if necessary and frequent references to “Indian expansionism” in Dahal’s campaign speeches haven’t helped allay Indian unease.
When the Maoists won the election, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs nearly cancelled a previously-scheduled conference here in the Bihar capital to discuss Indo-Nepal relations. Even though some high-profile guests and speakers dropped out, the meeting went ahead as scheduled on 26-27 April.
Saran and Indian State Minister for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh stayed for the whole two-day conference attended by 40 invited participants from Nepal. The Nepali delegation was headed by Minister for Physical Planning and Infrastructure, Hisila Yami, and also included Maoist leader CP Gajurel.
Bihar is suffering a crippling power shortage this summer, and the Ganges is almost dry. But in a few months, as every year, most of the state will be inundated by floods. It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that a recurrent theme at the conference was water and power.
“In Bihar we only think of Nepal during the monsoon floods,” quipped Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s chief minister in his keynote address. “We have a common problem of poverty and we can tackle that by mutual cooperation on the Kosi High Dam." How to deal with displacement of people in Nepal and the Kosi's massive silt load was not broached.
Yami didn’t want to be dragged into specifics, but responded: “People on both sides of the border would benefit from transparency and accountability in political and economic commitments... particularly in the areas of flood control.”
Kumar saw storing monsoon runoff on Himalayan high dams as mutually beneficial. But given perceptions of unfair treatment on Kosi and Gandaki in the 1960s, India may need to do more to build trust among Nepalis about river sharing. It didn’t help that Indian officials kept urging Nepal to follow the “Bhutan model”.
In the past six months two Indian private companies have signed MoUs for the 300MW Upper Karnali and 400MW Arun III. Adding West Seti and Budi Gandaki, the total power agreement with India would go up to nearly 1,800MW.
Minister Ramesh was optimistic that all this would lead to bigger and better things. “We are no longer talking about a pie in the sky,” he said, “we have made progress and a final push on joint projects by the new government is all that is required.”
Ramesh tried to assure Nepali visitors that India was not “coveting and salivating” over Himalayan rivers, but would like to see mutual cooperation also benefit Nepal with power, irrigation and balance of payments. “One major project exporting power to India would wipe out Nepal’s trade deficit with India,” he said.
Saran echoed the view. “Nepal has to start seeing India not as a threat but as an opportunity, you are next door to a country of one billion growing at eight percent with which you have an open border,” he said, “Nepal is not India-locked, it is India-open.”
Participants said India-Nepal economic cooperation has suffered because Nepali nationalism is often defined by anti-Indianism. Former JNU professor S D Muni advised the Maoists not to fall into that trap. “The new rulers of Nepal don’t have to fall back on that nationalist agenda, and India shouldn’t try to play pawns and bishops in Nepal.”
Seven years ago when India’s Power Trading Corporation’s Tantra Naryan Thakur came to Nepal to explore electricity import prospects, he remembers Nepali officials assuring him that Nepal could export 150MW by 2007. “Today, Nepal is buying power from India,” Thakur told the conference.
But he said India’s demand for power would grow to 200,000 MW by 2018. If Nepal could fast-track projects to generate just 10,000MW in ten years, consume 2,000MW itself and export the rest to India it could earn $2.7 billion a year, Thakur said.
Foreign investors in Nepal, however, say they need to feel that they are not wasting their time. Dabur India is one investor which has stuck it out in Nepal through the conflict years. Its CEO, Udayan Ganguly said: “Nepal needs to create the right atmosphere for investors by resolving labour issues, violence and insecurity. Unless swift action is taken, the few investors that remain may decide it’s not worth it.”
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Nepal Bans Food Grain Exports To Prevent Shortages
Nepal Bans Food Grain Exports To Prevent Shortages
DPA, 1-May-08
The Nepalese government Thursday banned the export of food grains, including rice, in the face of rising prices and fears of food shortages.
The Nepalese government said the decision was to maintain stocks of food and followed similar steps by its neighbour India.
``In view of demands of food grain in international market and to prevent deterioration of food security in the country, the government has stopped export of rice, wheat and paddy with immediate effect,'' the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply said.
The move followed growing concern in Nepal over the rising cost of rice, the staple food for most Nepalese.
The Nepalese central bank said the price of rice had risen by almost 30 per cent in the past three months, mainly due to the rising cost of rice and paddy in international markets.
The government ban is seen as an attempt to curb exports of rice by farmers and businessmen to India for better prices despite Nepal being a major importer of rice.
The ban imposed by India in its export of rice and paddy had directly affected the price of those essential goods in the Nepali market.
Prices of food items have skyrocketed in the market over the last three months. If the trend continues foods and oil will become unaffordable for the general public, say market analysts.
``But the situation can fast turn worse,'' warns Puskar Bajracharya, an economist who has been involved in extensive research in urban poverty. ``With essential commodities becoming unaffordable, risks have increased for wage earners, unemployed and low income groups failing to meet their calorie requirement.''
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 4.3 million tons of rice was harvested in Nepal in 2007 but the country ended up exporting some of its production to India despite Nepal's annual rice deficit.
Nepal imported 26,448 tons of paddy and 3,276 tons of rice from India in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
About 3.8 million people in Nepal would face food insecurity in the coming months due to a combination of sharp increases in food prices and political instability in the southern part of the country, according to the UN World Food Programme in Nepal.
DPA, 1-May-08
The Nepalese government Thursday banned the export of food grains, including rice, in the face of rising prices and fears of food shortages.
The Nepalese government said the decision was to maintain stocks of food and followed similar steps by its neighbour India.
``In view of demands of food grain in international market and to prevent deterioration of food security in the country, the government has stopped export of rice, wheat and paddy with immediate effect,'' the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply said.
The move followed growing concern in Nepal over the rising cost of rice, the staple food for most Nepalese.
The Nepalese central bank said the price of rice had risen by almost 30 per cent in the past three months, mainly due to the rising cost of rice and paddy in international markets.
The government ban is seen as an attempt to curb exports of rice by farmers and businessmen to India for better prices despite Nepal being a major importer of rice.
The ban imposed by India in its export of rice and paddy had directly affected the price of those essential goods in the Nepali market.
Prices of food items have skyrocketed in the market over the last three months. If the trend continues foods and oil will become unaffordable for the general public, say market analysts.
``But the situation can fast turn worse,'' warns Puskar Bajracharya, an economist who has been involved in extensive research in urban poverty. ``With essential commodities becoming unaffordable, risks have increased for wage earners, unemployed and low income groups failing to meet their calorie requirement.''
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 4.3 million tons of rice was harvested in Nepal in 2007 but the country ended up exporting some of its production to India despite Nepal's annual rice deficit.
Nepal imported 26,448 tons of paddy and 3,276 tons of rice from India in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
About 3.8 million people in Nepal would face food insecurity in the coming months due to a combination of sharp increases in food prices and political instability in the southern part of the country, according to the UN World Food Programme in Nepal.
A real state developer - Comfort Care
A real state developer - Comfort Care
Comfort Housing shows the way in managing urbanisation and creating jobs
NepaliTimes, Issue #380 (2007-12-28 - 2008-01-03)
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA
If there is one sector of the economy that is truly booming in Nepal today, it is the housing industry.
Construction can’t keep up with demand fuelled by remittance and urbanisation. Needless to say, most of this growth is haphazard and malignant.
Yet, there was one group of engineers and investors who felt there was a need for a paradigm shift: provide quality housing at affordable prices while at the same time steer city’s living spaces towards planned growth and create jobs. Om Rajbhandhary and his friends got together in 2001 to start Comfort Housing with this vision and launched a 76-unit development in Sitapaila.
“A developer is a contractor, consultant and client all rolled into one,” replies Rajbhandhary when asked to describe his job. As the CEO of Comfort Housing, he has to deal with everyone. The biggest challenge was to overcome the Nepali tradition of building one’s own house.
“We don’t want to live in a house made by others because we don’t trust builders,” says Rajbhandhary. But Comfort has managed to build trust. People took well to the idea of living together because it reminded them of their ancestral bahals and choks in the old city. And because of the hassles of finding cement, steel rods, getting the water and electricity supply, builders realised it was much more convenient to let someone else worry about all that.
After Sitapaila, Rajbhandhary launched the even more ambitious Comfort Housing estates in Budhanilkantha, Sitapaila and Dharan. Rajbhandhary says he’d be challenged by developing more housing areas outside Kathmandu to ease the pressure on the capital, but most clients want to buy in Kathmandu.
Comfort Housing recently ventured into a vertical living project with The Comfort Housing Tower II at Lazimpat. It was so successful that the company is building three more apartment complexes in Bijeswori, Panipokhari and Sitapaila. It was inevitable; as Kathmandu runs out of space, there is nowhere to go but up.
We ask Rajbhandhary the secret behind the success of his projects besides having the right idea at the right time. “It is the trust from our customers about our product,” he replies with conviction. “Most Nepalis save their entire lives to build a house in Kathmandu, which is why they are so attached to the property. I am lucky that people trust me to build their homes for them.”
Unlike many developers who take short cuts to make a fast buck, Rajbhandhary says he owes his success entirely to customer satisfaction. What he hopes is that other developers also take his approach of customer-first, because if they are satisfied, it also helps the community and the nation.
As he surveys the Kathmandu skyline with us from a vantage point in the city, Rajbhandhary is proud to point out his projects and how they are inducing other developers to follow the model.
“One of the areas with huge untapped potential is budget housing because that’s where most customers are,” says Rajbhandhary, “there’s urgent need for new entrepreneurs and investors.”
Living in the complex he built in Sitapalia, Rajbhandhary has observed changes in the sociological aspects of Nepali family life. He says those who were not into sports are getting into it, and many are fitter and healthier. Children and adults who could not swim have learnt to, the community gets together during festivals and celebrations.
“There is a new sense of community, and I feel proud to be a part of that revival,” says Rajbhandhary. He says there is enough profit in the housing business and plenty of land still left in Kathmandu for planned development.
The government benefits from housing business because it gets revenue during land procurement, and ownership transfer. Seventy-five percent of construction materials are locally made which pumps the money into the domestic economy through employment and taxes. A project worth Rs 400 million takes three years to build and the downstream benefits are spread out over time as well.
Rajbhandhary’s only gripe is that for all its potential and contribution to the economy, the government hasn’t yet given the housing industry the importance it deserves; for example allowing foreign investment in construction and housing.
“Nepalis won’t have to go abroad in search of work, the construction boom will provide enough employment here at home,” says Rajbhandhary. For that to happen, the government has to treat housing as a national priority, he adds, which is not possible unless the political leadership understands its importance.
Comfort Housing shows the way in managing urbanisation and creating jobs
NepaliTimes, Issue #380 (2007-12-28 - 2008-01-03)
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA
If there is one sector of the economy that is truly booming in Nepal today, it is the housing industry.
Construction can’t keep up with demand fuelled by remittance and urbanisation. Needless to say, most of this growth is haphazard and malignant.
Yet, there was one group of engineers and investors who felt there was a need for a paradigm shift: provide quality housing at affordable prices while at the same time steer city’s living spaces towards planned growth and create jobs. Om Rajbhandhary and his friends got together in 2001 to start Comfort Housing with this vision and launched a 76-unit development in Sitapaila.
“A developer is a contractor, consultant and client all rolled into one,” replies Rajbhandhary when asked to describe his job. As the CEO of Comfort Housing, he has to deal with everyone. The biggest challenge was to overcome the Nepali tradition of building one’s own house.
“We don’t want to live in a house made by others because we don’t trust builders,” says Rajbhandhary. But Comfort has managed to build trust. People took well to the idea of living together because it reminded them of their ancestral bahals and choks in the old city. And because of the hassles of finding cement, steel rods, getting the water and electricity supply, builders realised it was much more convenient to let someone else worry about all that.
After Sitapaila, Rajbhandhary launched the even more ambitious Comfort Housing estates in Budhanilkantha, Sitapaila and Dharan. Rajbhandhary says he’d be challenged by developing more housing areas outside Kathmandu to ease the pressure on the capital, but most clients want to buy in Kathmandu.
Comfort Housing recently ventured into a vertical living project with The Comfort Housing Tower II at Lazimpat. It was so successful that the company is building three more apartment complexes in Bijeswori, Panipokhari and Sitapaila. It was inevitable; as Kathmandu runs out of space, there is nowhere to go but up.
We ask Rajbhandhary the secret behind the success of his projects besides having the right idea at the right time. “It is the trust from our customers about our product,” he replies with conviction. “Most Nepalis save their entire lives to build a house in Kathmandu, which is why they are so attached to the property. I am lucky that people trust me to build their homes for them.”
Unlike many developers who take short cuts to make a fast buck, Rajbhandhary says he owes his success entirely to customer satisfaction. What he hopes is that other developers also take his approach of customer-first, because if they are satisfied, it also helps the community and the nation.
As he surveys the Kathmandu skyline with us from a vantage point in the city, Rajbhandhary is proud to point out his projects and how they are inducing other developers to follow the model.
“One of the areas with huge untapped potential is budget housing because that’s where most customers are,” says Rajbhandhary, “there’s urgent need for new entrepreneurs and investors.”
Living in the complex he built in Sitapalia, Rajbhandhary has observed changes in the sociological aspects of Nepali family life. He says those who were not into sports are getting into it, and many are fitter and healthier. Children and adults who could not swim have learnt to, the community gets together during festivals and celebrations.
“There is a new sense of community, and I feel proud to be a part of that revival,” says Rajbhandhary. He says there is enough profit in the housing business and plenty of land still left in Kathmandu for planned development.
The government benefits from housing business because it gets revenue during land procurement, and ownership transfer. Seventy-five percent of construction materials are locally made which pumps the money into the domestic economy through employment and taxes. A project worth Rs 400 million takes three years to build and the downstream benefits are spread out over time as well.
Rajbhandhary’s only gripe is that for all its potential and contribution to the economy, the government hasn’t yet given the housing industry the importance it deserves; for example allowing foreign investment in construction and housing.
“Nepalis won’t have to go abroad in search of work, the construction boom will provide enough employment here at home,” says Rajbhandhary. For that to happen, the government has to treat housing as a national priority, he adds, which is not possible unless the political leadership understands its importance.
Sky-high with Buddha
Sky-high with Buddha Air
Nepal’s best-run airline marks ten years
NepaliTimes, Issue #375 (2007-11-23 - 2007-11-29)
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA
PLANE SPEAKING: Buddha Air’s managing director, Birendra Basnet, stepping out of one his airline’s fleet of Raytheon Beechcraft 1900Ds at Kathmandu airport on Wednesday.
Buddha Air’s Birendra Basnet still remembers the day well. It was November 1997 and his first aircraft was arriving on a ferry flight from Bombay. As he drove his car down the airport road on the straight stretch from New Baneswor, he saw a plane about to touch down. The tail stabiliser lights illuminated the blue-and-beige Buddha Air logo.
“It was the proudest moment in my life,” Basnet recalls. “I felt a great sense of accomplishment.”
Today, ten years later, that sense of accomplishment is even greater for this Budanilkantha School graduate who forayed from being a middle class farmer in Morang to becoming the owner of Nepal’s most trusted airline. Since 1997, Buddha Air’s fleet has expanded to seven aircraft, its route map now spans the country from east to west.
Asked to rank the main factors that made Buddha excel, Basnet counts them off on his fingers: “Lots of luck, lots of hard work, being realistic, having a good business plan and taking care of our staff.”
The airline selected the twin-engined turboprop Raytheon Beechcraft 1900C, but realised only later just how lucky it was with the choice. The 19-seater was the right aircraft at the right time with its performance, capacity, and Nepal’s passenger volumes.
At $5 million apiece, the capital investment was steep, but the airline saved on maintenance costs and reaped the benefit of being the first private domestic airline in Nepal to invest in new equipment.
The first few years were difficult. New private airlines had sprung up, Necon had just brought in used ATR42s and Cosmic was flying SAAB340s. The war intensified and tourism went into free fall. “Those were the hardest years,” Basnet recalls, “and that is when we realised our biggest asset was our staff. It was their dedication and hard work to help management overcome the crisis that saved us.”
The airline’s main mantra, says Basnet, is never to compromise on two things: staff morale and maintenance. Indeed, Buddha has the lowest crew turnover of any airline in Nepal at a time when companies are hemorrhaging pilots and staff to foreign airlines.
As other airlines folded due to poor management or low yield, by 2002 Buddha was soaring again. It inducted two more Beechcrafts and was paying creditors regularly giving the airline a lot of credibility. Today, it fully owns three of its 1900Cs.
“You need proper and transparent book-keeping. You have to strive for reliability and integrity,” says Basnet. “In the airline business, if you take shortcuts, you are gone. You have to be in it for the long-haul.”
Basnet reads a lot, and he listens to the experts: engineers, accounts people, admin staff, IT specialists. Basnet’s office has glass panels on all walls so the staff sees him and he sees the staff. His table is paperless. On a computer, he constantly monitors fleet deployment, performance, occupancy, yield.
But things don’t always go according to plan. Buddha Air dabbled with trying to help a new airline startup in India’s northeast with equipment and operations, but had to back out when the venture took too long to take off.
“We’ve now prepared a five-year strategy and we are much more focussed about what we want to do,” says Basnet. Buddha will concentrate on the domestic market which isn’t yet saturated, it is looking at bigger turboprops, an expanded fleet and after that to start connecting Nepali cities to northern India and South Asia.
“We aren’t going to expand, or add jets just for the sake of it, we will build on our strengths,” says Basnet. “But we have to keep growing, if we don’t we’ll stagnate.”
Nepal’s best-run airline marks ten years
NepaliTimes, Issue #375 (2007-11-23 - 2007-11-29)
MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA
PLANE SPEAKING: Buddha Air’s managing director, Birendra Basnet, stepping out of one his airline’s fleet of Raytheon Beechcraft 1900Ds at Kathmandu airport on Wednesday.
Buddha Air’s Birendra Basnet still remembers the day well. It was November 1997 and his first aircraft was arriving on a ferry flight from Bombay. As he drove his car down the airport road on the straight stretch from New Baneswor, he saw a plane about to touch down. The tail stabiliser lights illuminated the blue-and-beige Buddha Air logo.
“It was the proudest moment in my life,” Basnet recalls. “I felt a great sense of accomplishment.”
Today, ten years later, that sense of accomplishment is even greater for this Budanilkantha School graduate who forayed from being a middle class farmer in Morang to becoming the owner of Nepal’s most trusted airline. Since 1997, Buddha Air’s fleet has expanded to seven aircraft, its route map now spans the country from east to west.
Asked to rank the main factors that made Buddha excel, Basnet counts them off on his fingers: “Lots of luck, lots of hard work, being realistic, having a good business plan and taking care of our staff.”
The airline selected the twin-engined turboprop Raytheon Beechcraft 1900C, but realised only later just how lucky it was with the choice. The 19-seater was the right aircraft at the right time with its performance, capacity, and Nepal’s passenger volumes.
At $5 million apiece, the capital investment was steep, but the airline saved on maintenance costs and reaped the benefit of being the first private domestic airline in Nepal to invest in new equipment.
The first few years were difficult. New private airlines had sprung up, Necon had just brought in used ATR42s and Cosmic was flying SAAB340s. The war intensified and tourism went into free fall. “Those were the hardest years,” Basnet recalls, “and that is when we realised our biggest asset was our staff. It was their dedication and hard work to help management overcome the crisis that saved us.”
The airline’s main mantra, says Basnet, is never to compromise on two things: staff morale and maintenance. Indeed, Buddha has the lowest crew turnover of any airline in Nepal at a time when companies are hemorrhaging pilots and staff to foreign airlines.
As other airlines folded due to poor management or low yield, by 2002 Buddha was soaring again. It inducted two more Beechcrafts and was paying creditors regularly giving the airline a lot of credibility. Today, it fully owns three of its 1900Cs.
“You need proper and transparent book-keeping. You have to strive for reliability and integrity,” says Basnet. “In the airline business, if you take shortcuts, you are gone. You have to be in it for the long-haul.”
Basnet reads a lot, and he listens to the experts: engineers, accounts people, admin staff, IT specialists. Basnet’s office has glass panels on all walls so the staff sees him and he sees the staff. His table is paperless. On a computer, he constantly monitors fleet deployment, performance, occupancy, yield.
But things don’t always go according to plan. Buddha Air dabbled with trying to help a new airline startup in India’s northeast with equipment and operations, but had to back out when the venture took too long to take off.
“We’ve now prepared a five-year strategy and we are much more focussed about what we want to do,” says Basnet. Buddha will concentrate on the domestic market which isn’t yet saturated, it is looking at bigger turboprops, an expanded fleet and after that to start connecting Nepali cities to northern India and South Asia.
“We aren’t going to expand, or add jets just for the sake of it, we will build on our strengths,” says Basnet. “But we have to keep growing, if we don’t we’ll stagnate.”
Nepal Dairy’s river of milk
Nepal’s top private dairy is preparing a new generation of entrepreneurs
NepaliTimes, Issue #397 (2008-04-25 - 2008-05-01)
SHEERE NG
Each time Nepal Dairy makes a breakthrough, the effects cause a wide ripple in the Nepali dairy industry, ultimately benefiting not only consumers and producers, but also the company’s business competitors.
But HB Rajbhandary, the company’s director, is not worried about inadvertently helping his rivals, for him the company’s business and the national interest go hand in hand.
When Rajbhandary set up first private milk company in Nepal 25 years ago, it eased the shortage of processed milk, laid the foundations for subsequent dairy businesses and provided additional income for farmers.
The supply of milk is often volatile, and in periods when there is a surplus, some companies stop buying and call for a ‘milk holiday’, which harms many producers who depend on being able to sell their milk.
Yet, Nepal Dairy, which has been selected by Nepali Times as its May Company of the Month, continued to buy even more and ventured into product diversification as a solution. Today, in retail outlets across the country, he sells ice cream, cheese, pizzas and pastries. In the process, ND has created thousands of jobs and given dairy farmers a fair price for their milk.
Since its foundation, the company continues to enjoy an annual 10 to 12 percent growth in profits. This is remarkable given the political instability of the war years.
One difficulty Rajbhandary is currently facing, and this is surprising in a country which is burgeoning with youth, is a graying workforce. Nepal’s brain drain means many young and middle-aged executives have left and there are only seniors who run the company.
In an effort to bring in new blood into Nepal Dairy, Rajbhandary recently opened his doors to college students training them in the processes of the dairy industry. He is now preparing to channel a portion of Nepal Diary’s profits into setting up a Nepal Diary Institute of Technology and Management.
This is because during the 1970s when the country experienced a shortage of processed milk, Rajbhandary– then general manager of the Dairy Development Cooperation and a PhD in Dairy technology–didn’t have the technicality to solve the problem. “I only understood things theoretically,” he says. He had to seek help from countries like New Zealand and Denmark.
Hence, in an industry where many players prefer to keep their methodology hush-hush, Rajbhandary says that helping the younger generation to get hands-on experience is a responsibility that established players should shoulder.
Asked what happens if the students decide not to work for the company upon graduation, Rajbhandary shrugs: “They will probably work for other dairy companies. Nepal needs qualified, competent young people.”
It is this ability to look beyond his company’s welfare to the national interest that sets Rajbhandry apart from many of his peers. He hopes that if the training produces good managers, he can split the company into separate units such as fast food and bakery sections, and expand each one under separate management.
The institute will also train dairy farmers to diversify their products to encourage entrepreneurship in the countryside. Rajbhandry says ND will help with distribution.
At 75, Rajbhandary has the energy, drive and vision of a man half his age. But he is determined to pass the torch to the new generation. When Nepali Times commented that he will be missed, he laughed and said, “Maybe there are people who want to see younger faces.”
Nepal’s top private dairy is preparing a new generation of entrepreneurs
NepaliTimes, Issue #397 (2008-04-25 - 2008-05-01)
SHEERE NG
Each time Nepal Dairy makes a breakthrough, the effects cause a wide ripple in the Nepali dairy industry, ultimately benefiting not only consumers and producers, but also the company’s business competitors.
But HB Rajbhandary, the company’s director, is not worried about inadvertently helping his rivals, for him the company’s business and the national interest go hand in hand.
When Rajbhandary set up first private milk company in Nepal 25 years ago, it eased the shortage of processed milk, laid the foundations for subsequent dairy businesses and provided additional income for farmers.
The supply of milk is often volatile, and in periods when there is a surplus, some companies stop buying and call for a ‘milk holiday’, which harms many producers who depend on being able to sell their milk.
Yet, Nepal Dairy, which has been selected by Nepali Times as its May Company of the Month, continued to buy even more and ventured into product diversification as a solution. Today, in retail outlets across the country, he sells ice cream, cheese, pizzas and pastries. In the process, ND has created thousands of jobs and given dairy farmers a fair price for their milk.
Since its foundation, the company continues to enjoy an annual 10 to 12 percent growth in profits. This is remarkable given the political instability of the war years.
One difficulty Rajbhandary is currently facing, and this is surprising in a country which is burgeoning with youth, is a graying workforce. Nepal’s brain drain means many young and middle-aged executives have left and there are only seniors who run the company.
In an effort to bring in new blood into Nepal Dairy, Rajbhandary recently opened his doors to college students training them in the processes of the dairy industry. He is now preparing to channel a portion of Nepal Diary’s profits into setting up a Nepal Diary Institute of Technology and Management.
This is because during the 1970s when the country experienced a shortage of processed milk, Rajbhandary– then general manager of the Dairy Development Cooperation and a PhD in Dairy technology–didn’t have the technicality to solve the problem. “I only understood things theoretically,” he says. He had to seek help from countries like New Zealand and Denmark.
Hence, in an industry where many players prefer to keep their methodology hush-hush, Rajbhandary says that helping the younger generation to get hands-on experience is a responsibility that established players should shoulder.
Asked what happens if the students decide not to work for the company upon graduation, Rajbhandary shrugs: “They will probably work for other dairy companies. Nepal needs qualified, competent young people.”
It is this ability to look beyond his company’s welfare to the national interest that sets Rajbhandry apart from many of his peers. He hopes that if the training produces good managers, he can split the company into separate units such as fast food and bakery sections, and expand each one under separate management.
The institute will also train dairy farmers to diversify their products to encourage entrepreneurship in the countryside. Rajbhandry says ND will help with distribution.
At 75, Rajbhandary has the energy, drive and vision of a man half his age. But he is determined to pass the torch to the new generation. When Nepali Times commented that he will be missed, he laughed and said, “Maybe there are people who want to see younger faces.”
Govt Slashes Climbing Permit Charges
Govt Slashes Climbing Permit Charges
ArthaExpress, 1-May-08
With a view to attracting more mountaineers to the country and to rendering mountaineering open for all seasons, the government has brought some changes in the current royalty structure for mountaineering to be effective from July 16.
A media release issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Wednesday stated that the government had decided to slash the royalty on climbing permit for autumn season by 50 per cent and by 75 per cent for winter and summer seasons. However, no change has been made in the royalty structure for the spring season.
The government also decided to increase the number of mountaineers in a team to 15 from 12. Likewise, climbers will have to pay no royalty at all to climb mountains in mid-western and far-western development regions for the next five years.
The government also decided to implement Incremental Royalty Break-down System. Till the date, the government has been charging same amount of royalty for teams having different number of persons. But the royalty amount would be increased as per the increase in number of team members from July 16.
ArthaExpress, 1-May-08
With a view to attracting more mountaineers to the country and to rendering mountaineering open for all seasons, the government has brought some changes in the current royalty structure for mountaineering to be effective from July 16.
A media release issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Wednesday stated that the government had decided to slash the royalty on climbing permit for autumn season by 50 per cent and by 75 per cent for winter and summer seasons. However, no change has been made in the royalty structure for the spring season.
The government also decided to increase the number of mountaineers in a team to 15 from 12. Likewise, climbers will have to pay no royalty at all to climb mountains in mid-western and far-western development regions for the next five years.
The government also decided to implement Incremental Royalty Break-down System. Till the date, the government has been charging same amount of royalty for teams having different number of persons. But the royalty amount would be increased as per the increase in number of team members from July 16.
Roundup of Economic & Business News (Apr 1 - Apr 30)
Apr 1
Contractors demand compensation for increased construction costs (ekantipur.com)
Nepal’s handicraft exports down 10pc (ekantipur.com)
Apr 2
Five-day govt holiday for poll (ekantipur.com)
ADB warns of food crisis, high inflation (ekantipur.com)
Tourist arrivals on steady upswing (ekantipur.com)
Travel agencies stop selling Qatar Airways tickets (ekantipur.com)
ADB projects Nepal's GDP growth at 3.8 percent (Nepalnews.com)
Apr 3
Nepalis buying more silver despite rising world prices (ekantipur.com)
Monthly oil loss touches record Rs 1.3b (ekantipur.com)
Program to improve access for Nepali products (ekantipur.com)
Nepal gets 6th life insurance company (ekantipur.com)
Apr 4
Industrial output records negative growth rate (ekantipur.com)
Govt for S Asian pact to benefit workers (ekantipur.com)
NT shares to be allotted after polls (ArthaExpress.com)
Apr 5
Promoters' shares help stock market rebound (ekantipur.com)
Import duty scrap by India worries Nepali ghee industry (ekantipur.com)
Apr 6
Dr Kamal Krishna Joshi: 'Quality education requires more investment' (ekantipur.com)
Apr 7
Building costs grow double-digit (ekantipur.com)
‘Scrap import tax on vegetable ghee, oil raw materials’ (ekantipur.com)
Apr 8
Vegetables costlier as days become warmer (ekantipur.com)
Lift import tax on vegetable ghee raw materials: CNI (ekantipur.com)
21 global firms show interest on Budhi Ganadki Project (WaterPower Magazine)
Apr 9
Forex reserve on upward trajectory (ekantipur.com)
Industries announce paid holiday (ekantipur.com)
Apr 10
Rising consumption pushes up imports (ekantipur.com)
Youths hopeful of economic growth after CA polls (ArthaExpress.com)
ANALYSIS-After poll, job creation key to cement Nepali peace (Reuters)
Apr 11
Overseas trade through eastern region declines (ekantipur.com)
FlyYeti.com takes off for Doha (CAPA)
Apr 13
Protect veg ghee industry: FNCCI, CNI (ekantipur)
Apr 14
Load-shedding hours may go up again (ekantipur)
Editorial: Save ghee industry (ekantipur)
Delay in engine delivery continues to cripple NAC (ArthaExpress)
Apr 15
Buying bottled water to beat shortage (ekantipur)
NEA to continue 42-hrs weekly load shedding (ekantipur)
Garment exports plunge 27 pc in first quarter (ekantipur)
FNCCI chief suggests liberal economy for building 'new Nepal' (Nepalnews)
Apr 16
Maoists for capitalism, economic miracle (ekantipur)
Cement price surges 20pc (ekantipur)
Multi-sectoral dialogue a must (ArthaExpress)
Stock exchange in unease over Maoist win (Nepalnews)
The Finnish Model of Knowledge Economy: Can Nepal Learn from it? (Telegraph Nepal)
Editorial: Maoists in power (Business Standard)
Apr 17
NEPSE rebounds after top Maoists talk capitalism (ekantipur)
Higher import costs drive up chicken prices (ekantipur)
Maoists for capitalism, economic miracle (ArthaExpress)
Apr 18
‘Do something, anything to end fuel shortage’ (ekantipur)
Less than 22pc pass Korean language test (ekantipur)
Citizens bank opens four branches (ekantipur)
Indian ban on cement exports hurts Nepali industries (ekantipur)
Prachanda intensifies meetings with business community (Nepalnews)
Apr 19
Mahakali Irrigation 3rd phase to begin (ekantipur)
Soaring export pushes up wheat prices (ekantipur)
EC says election costs are within limit (Nepalnews)
Reduce import tax to zero: NCCI (ArthaExpress)
Soaring export pushes up wheat prices (ArthaExpress)
Apr 20
Korea-bound workers to leave by June (ekantipur)
Foreign experts join KUKL (ekantipur)
Atish Shrestha: 'Informal channels pose biggest challenge' (ekantipur)
Citizens Bank opens four branches in one day (ekantipur)
Nepali workers to fly to South Korea from mid-July (Nepalnews)
Apr 21
Rain water harvesting ends water woes (ekantipur)
Banks won't need approval for new branches any more (ekantipur)
Udayapur Cement still closed (ekantipur)
Global food crisis increases instability in world's poorest countries (Nepalnews)
Apr 22
Reform in power sector stressed (ekantipur)
Quality certification for food products to become mandatory (ekantipur)
Indian envoy promises favorable trade terms (ekantipur)
Dang farmers stop selling milk (ekantipur)
Nepal's senior economists speak (Telegraph Nepal)
Apr 23
The case of an unpaid migrant worker (ekantipur)
Maoists promise investor-friendly Nepal (ekantipur)
NFMA lauds proposed export ban on wheat (ekantipur)
Govt to provide Rs 500 million to NOC (Nepalnews)
Hilly districts facing food crisis (Nepalnews)
Apr 24
Costlier building materials retard development work (ekantipur)
Arthako Artha completes 15-yr (ArthaExpress)
NFMA hails govt’s move (ArthaExpress)
Nirulas to promote Nepal in India (ArthaExpress)
Apr 25
Rs 1 lakh relief each for 13,246 conflict dead (ekantipur)
Lhasa-Khasa railway in 5 years: China (ekantipur)
Enforce Pvt school fee parameters’ (ekantipur)
‘Stop intimidation to attract investors’ (ekantipur)
Bank defaulters won’t be pardoned (ArthaExpress)
Apr 26
India to build 1500 km road alongside border (ekantipur)
Chicken soars to record high (ekantipur)
India politicians, analysts want 1950 Treaty reviewed (ekantipur)
Illegal tolls make vegetables pricey (ekantipur)
53RD NRB ANNIVERSARY : Role of central bank increasing (ArthaExpress)
Apr 27
High-speed Internet in offing (ekantipur)
One big challenge is illegal imports': Soumitra Roy (ekantipur)
Monkeys generate revenue! (ArthaExpress)
Sri Lankans flock to Lumbini (ArthaExpress)
Cross calling on cells to cost less (ArthaExpress)
Apr 28
Construction materials hit ceiling (ekantipur)
Loadshedding cut by half (ekantipur)
Nepali workers take great leap outward (ekantipur)
Be prepared for higher prices: rice traders (ekantipur)
Nepal-Bahrain labor pact today (ekantipur)
Net surfers to get high speed internet at affordable rate soon (Nepalnews)
Asiana Airlines, Gandaki Int’l ink accord (ArthaExpress)
Apr 29
WB to give Nepal US $127m more (ekantipur)
Nepali workers in Bahrain to get legal status (ekantipur)
Five institutions to merge, become commercial bank (ekantipur)
WB officials meet PM, Prachanda; assure help in hydropower sector (Nepalnews)
Apr 30
Annual oil losses to touch Rs 8.5b (ekantipur)
Govt slashes royalties on mountains (ekantipur)
NT shares to be allotted (ArthaExpress)
Western, Eastern Regions Face Fuel Crisis (ArthaExpress)
Indian aid to implement development projects (ArthaExpress)
Contractors demand compensation for increased construction costs (ekantipur.com)
Nepal’s handicraft exports down 10pc (ekantipur.com)
Apr 2
Five-day govt holiday for poll (ekantipur.com)
ADB warns of food crisis, high inflation (ekantipur.com)
Tourist arrivals on steady upswing (ekantipur.com)
Travel agencies stop selling Qatar Airways tickets (ekantipur.com)
ADB projects Nepal's GDP growth at 3.8 percent (Nepalnews.com)
Apr 3
Nepalis buying more silver despite rising world prices (ekantipur.com)
Monthly oil loss touches record Rs 1.3b (ekantipur.com)
Program to improve access for Nepali products (ekantipur.com)
Nepal gets 6th life insurance company (ekantipur.com)
Apr 4
Industrial output records negative growth rate (ekantipur.com)
Govt for S Asian pact to benefit workers (ekantipur.com)
NT shares to be allotted after polls (ArthaExpress.com)
Apr 5
Promoters' shares help stock market rebound (ekantipur.com)
Import duty scrap by India worries Nepali ghee industry (ekantipur.com)
Apr 6
Dr Kamal Krishna Joshi: 'Quality education requires more investment' (ekantipur.com)
Apr 7
Building costs grow double-digit (ekantipur.com)
‘Scrap import tax on vegetable ghee, oil raw materials’ (ekantipur.com)
Apr 8
Vegetables costlier as days become warmer (ekantipur.com)
Lift import tax on vegetable ghee raw materials: CNI (ekantipur.com)
21 global firms show interest on Budhi Ganadki Project (WaterPower Magazine)
Apr 9
Forex reserve on upward trajectory (ekantipur.com)
Industries announce paid holiday (ekantipur.com)
Apr 10
Rising consumption pushes up imports (ekantipur.com)
Youths hopeful of economic growth after CA polls (ArthaExpress.com)
ANALYSIS-After poll, job creation key to cement Nepali peace (Reuters)
Apr 11
Overseas trade through eastern region declines (ekantipur.com)
FlyYeti.com takes off for Doha (CAPA)
Apr 13
Protect veg ghee industry: FNCCI, CNI (ekantipur)
Apr 14
Load-shedding hours may go up again (ekantipur)
Editorial: Save ghee industry (ekantipur)
Delay in engine delivery continues to cripple NAC (ArthaExpress)
Apr 15
Buying bottled water to beat shortage (ekantipur)
NEA to continue 42-hrs weekly load shedding (ekantipur)
Garment exports plunge 27 pc in first quarter (ekantipur)
FNCCI chief suggests liberal economy for building 'new Nepal' (Nepalnews)
Apr 16
Maoists for capitalism, economic miracle (ekantipur)
Cement price surges 20pc (ekantipur)
Multi-sectoral dialogue a must (ArthaExpress)
Stock exchange in unease over Maoist win (Nepalnews)
The Finnish Model of Knowledge Economy: Can Nepal Learn from it? (Telegraph Nepal)
Editorial: Maoists in power (Business Standard)
Apr 17
NEPSE rebounds after top Maoists talk capitalism (ekantipur)
Higher import costs drive up chicken prices (ekantipur)
Maoists for capitalism, economic miracle (ArthaExpress)
Apr 18
‘Do something, anything to end fuel shortage’ (ekantipur)
Less than 22pc pass Korean language test (ekantipur)
Citizens bank opens four branches (ekantipur)
Indian ban on cement exports hurts Nepali industries (ekantipur)
Prachanda intensifies meetings with business community (Nepalnews)
Apr 19
Mahakali Irrigation 3rd phase to begin (ekantipur)
Soaring export pushes up wheat prices (ekantipur)
EC says election costs are within limit (Nepalnews)
Reduce import tax to zero: NCCI (ArthaExpress)
Soaring export pushes up wheat prices (ArthaExpress)
Apr 20
Korea-bound workers to leave by June (ekantipur)
Foreign experts join KUKL (ekantipur)
Atish Shrestha: 'Informal channels pose biggest challenge' (ekantipur)
Citizens Bank opens four branches in one day (ekantipur)
Nepali workers to fly to South Korea from mid-July (Nepalnews)
Apr 21
Rain water harvesting ends water woes (ekantipur)
Banks won't need approval for new branches any more (ekantipur)
Udayapur Cement still closed (ekantipur)
Global food crisis increases instability in world's poorest countries (Nepalnews)
Apr 22
Reform in power sector stressed (ekantipur)
Quality certification for food products to become mandatory (ekantipur)
Indian envoy promises favorable trade terms (ekantipur)
Dang farmers stop selling milk (ekantipur)
Nepal's senior economists speak (Telegraph Nepal)
Apr 23
The case of an unpaid migrant worker (ekantipur)
Maoists promise investor-friendly Nepal (ekantipur)
NFMA lauds proposed export ban on wheat (ekantipur)
Govt to provide Rs 500 million to NOC (Nepalnews)
Hilly districts facing food crisis (Nepalnews)
Apr 24
Costlier building materials retard development work (ekantipur)
Arthako Artha completes 15-yr (ArthaExpress)
NFMA hails govt’s move (ArthaExpress)
Nirulas to promote Nepal in India (ArthaExpress)
Apr 25
Rs 1 lakh relief each for 13,246 conflict dead (ekantipur)
Lhasa-Khasa railway in 5 years: China (ekantipur)
Enforce Pvt school fee parameters’ (ekantipur)
‘Stop intimidation to attract investors’ (ekantipur)
Bank defaulters won’t be pardoned (ArthaExpress)
Apr 26
India to build 1500 km road alongside border (ekantipur)
Chicken soars to record high (ekantipur)
India politicians, analysts want 1950 Treaty reviewed (ekantipur)
Illegal tolls make vegetables pricey (ekantipur)
53RD NRB ANNIVERSARY : Role of central bank increasing (ArthaExpress)
Apr 27
High-speed Internet in offing (ekantipur)
One big challenge is illegal imports': Soumitra Roy (ekantipur)
Monkeys generate revenue! (ArthaExpress)
Sri Lankans flock to Lumbini (ArthaExpress)
Cross calling on cells to cost less (ArthaExpress)
Apr 28
Construction materials hit ceiling (ekantipur)
Loadshedding cut by half (ekantipur)
Nepali workers take great leap outward (ekantipur)
Be prepared for higher prices: rice traders (ekantipur)
Nepal-Bahrain labor pact today (ekantipur)
Net surfers to get high speed internet at affordable rate soon (Nepalnews)
Asiana Airlines, Gandaki Int’l ink accord (ArthaExpress)
Apr 29
WB to give Nepal US $127m more (ekantipur)
Nepali workers in Bahrain to get legal status (ekantipur)
Five institutions to merge, become commercial bank (ekantipur)
WB officials meet PM, Prachanda; assure help in hydropower sector (Nepalnews)
Apr 30
Annual oil losses to touch Rs 8.5b (ekantipur)
Govt slashes royalties on mountains (ekantipur)
NT shares to be allotted (ArthaExpress)
Western, Eastern Regions Face Fuel Crisis (ArthaExpress)
Indian aid to implement development projects (ArthaExpress)
Annual oil losses to touch Rs 8.5b
Annual oil losses to touch Rs 8.5b
eKantipur.com, 30-Apr-08
By Milan Mani Sharma
Monthly loss to hit Rs 1.5 billion NOC's import dwindles as oil loss soars At current prices, petrol costs Rs 87 a liter, gas Rs 1,500 per cylinder Maoists initiate petroleum trade study
The long-running apathy of politicians to revise the petroleum prices has inflicted a whopping oil loss worth over Rs 4 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The figure is just an initial estimate, said Bachchu Kafle, deputy managing director of Nepal Oil Corporation, adding that it is the record loss the country has ever had to face in any year in fossil fuel trade. “It's a nightmare,” he told the Post.
But, the nightmare does not end here. Officials keeping track of the international oil prices said worse was still to come, as international oil prices for June delivery settled at US $117 a barrel on Wednesday.
“If the trend is any indication, the country is set to incur an additional oil loss of 4.5 billion over the next three months of the fiscal year, making the annual loss to around Rs 8.5 billion,” said a price expert at the corporation.
Domestic retail prices were set when crude was trading at US$ 94 per barrel in the international market. However, NOC is importing petroleum products at US$ 108 a barrel. “This difference has already cost the country and NOC, the state-owned petroleum import monopolist, a monthly loss of Rs 1.35 billion in April,” said the official. Since the crude prices have scaled upward till June and there is no sign of its easing in July, officials said the country's oil loss will only swell to an average of Rs 1.5 billion a month for the remaining three months of the fiscal year.
“The extent of the rise may vary for individual products, but at US $117 a barrel, the price of petrol will have to be raised to Rs 87 a liter, diesel to Rs 84, kerosene to Rs 69 and liquefied petroleum gas to Rs 1,500 a cylinder,” said the NOC pricing official.
In the present situation, wherein the corporation is already depending heavily on the government's loans for managing imports, further rise in losses is feared to cost to consumers heavy.
“If prices are not adjusted, the shortages will only return to stay. It will be a hopeless situation. The political leaders must make a prudent decision now,” said an official at the supplies ministry.
Failing to generate enough money, cash-strapped NOC has already fallen short on its weekly installment payments to the Indian supplier.
As a result, the Indian Oil Corporation has curtailed supplies by half to about 1,500 kiloliters a day at present. This has caused the queues to return to the refilling stations.
eKantipur.com, 30-Apr-08
By Milan Mani Sharma
Monthly loss to hit Rs 1.5 billion NOC's import dwindles as oil loss soars At current prices, petrol costs Rs 87 a liter, gas Rs 1,500 per cylinder Maoists initiate petroleum trade study
The long-running apathy of politicians to revise the petroleum prices has inflicted a whopping oil loss worth over Rs 4 billion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
The figure is just an initial estimate, said Bachchu Kafle, deputy managing director of Nepal Oil Corporation, adding that it is the record loss the country has ever had to face in any year in fossil fuel trade. “It's a nightmare,” he told the Post.
But, the nightmare does not end here. Officials keeping track of the international oil prices said worse was still to come, as international oil prices for June delivery settled at US $117 a barrel on Wednesday.
“If the trend is any indication, the country is set to incur an additional oil loss of 4.5 billion over the next three months of the fiscal year, making the annual loss to around Rs 8.5 billion,” said a price expert at the corporation.
Domestic retail prices were set when crude was trading at US$ 94 per barrel in the international market. However, NOC is importing petroleum products at US$ 108 a barrel. “This difference has already cost the country and NOC, the state-owned petroleum import monopolist, a monthly loss of Rs 1.35 billion in April,” said the official. Since the crude prices have scaled upward till June and there is no sign of its easing in July, officials said the country's oil loss will only swell to an average of Rs 1.5 billion a month for the remaining three months of the fiscal year.
“The extent of the rise may vary for individual products, but at US $117 a barrel, the price of petrol will have to be raised to Rs 87 a liter, diesel to Rs 84, kerosene to Rs 69 and liquefied petroleum gas to Rs 1,500 a cylinder,” said the NOC pricing official.
In the present situation, wherein the corporation is already depending heavily on the government's loans for managing imports, further rise in losses is feared to cost to consumers heavy.
“If prices are not adjusted, the shortages will only return to stay. It will be a hopeless situation. The political leaders must make a prudent decision now,” said an official at the supplies ministry.
Failing to generate enough money, cash-strapped NOC has already fallen short on its weekly installment payments to the Indian supplier.
As a result, the Indian Oil Corporation has curtailed supplies by half to about 1,500 kiloliters a day at present. This has caused the queues to return to the refilling stations.
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