KATHMANDU, July 13: Cement export to India has started after the government took a policy to encourage exports. Palpa Cement, located at Sunuwal-7 in Nawalparasi, exported cement to India last week.
The company has sent three trucks of cement to India for the first time. “We have started exporting cement to the Indian market, said Jeevan Niraula, public relations manager at Palpa Cement.
According to Nepal Cement Producers Association, Nepali cement manufacturers are likely to export cement worth around Rs 1.5 trillion in the coming fiscal year. This raises hopes that cement could serve as a solution to the country’s ever-widening trade deficit.
At present, industrialists have started getting quality certificates from India to export cement, said Dhurba Thapa, president of the association. “Some 12/15 cement manufacturers are in the process of getting quality certificates,” said Thapa, “If the government prepares the environment, one and a half trillion tons of cement can be exported next year.”
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Former president of FNCCI, Pashupati Murarka says that the industrialists are excited to export cement. An ISI certificate is required to export cement to India.
The ISI certificate of Arghakhanchi Cement will come within a week. “It is easy for the industrial plants near the Indian border to export,” he said. “Arghakhanchi Cement is also ready for export.”
Cement industrialists are excited after the government took a policy of giving 8 percent cash incentive to the exporting industries through the budget. Murarka said that the government needs to develop procedures for exports. “Industries are preparing to export,” he said. “The government should soon prepare procedures for exports in line with the provisions in the budget.”
The Nepali cement industry has been producing quality products with the introduction of technology. According to Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, the quality of Nepali cement is relatively good. The industrialists claim that Nepali cement is able to compete with cements of international brands. Entrepreneurs had been increasing their investment in the cement industry, seeing the possibility of export.
Government policy has encouraged the cement industry. The government has been assisting in the construction of transmission lines and roads to the industrial mines. Although government investment in cement production has reached half a century, the private sector started investing in cement only two and a half decades ago.
According to the Department of Industry, more than 100 cement factories have so far obtained operating permits. The Investment Board Nepal has already approved new investments worth half a billion rupees in the cement industry.
Two cement factories, including one with foreign investment, have received approval for new investments.
