Agitating industrialists withdraw protest

Agitating industrialists that have their firms inside the country´s 11 industrial estates have withdrawn their protest programs after the government decided to defer the enforcement of recently announced hike in rental fees and invited them for talks.
The industrialists had decided to launch protests against the decision of Industrial Estates Management Limited (IEML) after it raised rental fee of land and buildings inside the estates by 850 to 1,400 percent. Federation of Industries in Nepal Industrial Estates (FINIE) that spearheaded the protest said the IMEL´s decision was unfair.
"But we have withdrawn our protest programs after IEML assured us the new fee structure will not be enforced for the time being and committed to revise the fee through mutual consultation," Shailendra Lal Pradhan, president of FINIE told Republica.
"We will soon form a committee to hold negotiation meetings with the IMEL officials for fixing the new rental fees," said Pradhan.
Meanwhile, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) issuing a press release on Tuesday expressed solidarity with FINIE´s stance. "We are with FINIE. The government´s decision to hike rental fee in the industrial estates without due consultation with the concerned entrepreneurs is not acceptable to us," FNCCI said in the release.
The 11 estates spread in different parts of the country houses more than 600 firms inside their premises. Together, they have over Rs 13 billion of private investment and employ 11,109 people.
The industrial estates were set up with a view to uplift the country´s industrial sector by making efficient use of available resources and extend better services and facilities to factories.
Additionally, the government is also mulling a change in the management system in order to make industries based in the estates more effective. The change is being worked out after FINIE repeatedly lodged complaints against IMEL´s weak performance to utilize the resources available in the estates.
Industrial estates cover over 5,128 ropanis of land in different places such as Balaju, Patan, Hetauda, Dhanusha, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Dhankuta and Saptari.

Panel to study industrial estates mgmt after complaints

The government has formed a committee to study major constraints that are holding back performance of country´s 11 industrial estates, which house more than 600 factories and firms, including leading multinational companies and major export industries.
"The committee formed by the Ministry of Industry (MoI) will basically identify the existing constraints and recommend ways to enhance the performance of those industrial estates," said an MoI official. "Based on its recommendations, the ministry would mull over changes in the management of and operations at the industrial estates aiming to enhance efficiency," the source told Republica.
These estates, which house over Rs 13 billion of private investment and provide employment to 11,109 people, were primarily set up so as to make efficient use of available resources and extend better services and facilities to factories there.
As of now, the Industrial Estates Management Limited (IEML) is responsible for the management, but factories in those estates have been highly criticizing IEML for its "inefficiency and ineffective management".
"The government´s step to rethink over the management of the industrial estates stems from complaints received from the entrepreneurs who operate their firms within the industrial estates," the official said.
The firms operating inside the industrial estates had filed a complaint to the ministry a few weeks back urging the government to change management of the industrial estates. "The government too is not happy with the performance of IEML," the official said.
According to the source, the industrial promotion division at the MoI will conduct studies at different industrial estates mainly concentrating on the ways for better management of the industrial estates which cover 5,128 ropanies of land in different places such as Balaju, Patan, Hetauda, Dhanusha, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Butwal, Bhaktapur, Biratnagar, Dhankuta and Saptari.
"IEML has largely been inefficient to manage the resources that these estates own," Shailendra Lal Pradahn, president of the Federation of Industries in Nepal Industrial Estates (FINIE), who is also a former executive member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry said. "We want the government to revisit the past and make changes in the management of estates or hand over the asset to the private sector for better utilization of it."
IEML, which is government entity entrusted to carry out management of the industrial estates, has been criticized by the entrepreneurs who are running their business inside them.
"The industrial estates do not have any load-shedding schedule let alone adequate supply of power to operate machines. So we don´t know when power comes and goes," Pradhan said. "There is also no security of the property."