Lack of power leaves cement factories in a fix
HETAUNDA/DANG, SEP 21 -
Even though it has been three years since Hetauda-based Shivam Cement began commercial operation, the government has not been able to supply adequate electricity required for its production unit. The company has been relying on diesel generators, after its frequent pleadings to the government bore no results.
The cement manufacturing unit requires 12 MW electricity for smooth operation, but the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has provided the factory only 3 MW through an 11 kv transmission line.
The cement factory has been managing daily production by generating 9 MW energy with the help of four diesel generators. “We have faced huge operating problems after the NEA failed to supply the required energy,” Raghunandan Maru, the proprietor of the industry, said.
The government awarded a contract to supply energy to the factory through a 132 kv substation on April 9, 2010. Although the contract period was set for 18 months, the contractor failed to complete the work on time. Even after the contract period was extended until September 19, 2013, the assigned work has not been completed, nor has the industry been able to get the promised energy from the NEA. The industry, set up with an investment of Rs 5 billion, manufactures 1,200 mt of cement along with clinkers.
Same is the plight of Ghorahi Cement, which is yet to receive energy supply, though it has already been two years since the factory began operation. Even though the company invested Rs 20 million to erect poles and connect wires along the 15 km stretch from its Laxmipur-based manufacturing plant up to Lamahi substation, the NEA has not provided the electricity.
“This has not only hampered our industrial production, but also wasted our investment in erecting poles and connecting wires, making it difficult to continue operation due to the lack of energy,” Amar Subedhi, social relation officer of the industry said.
He said the NEA had previously committed to supply energy if the poles and wire were managed by the factory, adding, “But now, it has been paying no heed to supply energy under several pretexts.”
Subedi said the industry has to use 50,000 litres of diesel a day to run the generator, which has forced the industry to bear the immense cost of energy supply.
“Erecting poles and managing wires alone do not make any different as long as we have the capacity to supply energy,” Sashi Kiran Shah, chief of the Nepal Electricity. He said discussions were being held on a central level to supply electricity for the industry. “Once the due process is fulfilled and the capacity to supply is increased, we will supply the energy.”
Shivan Cement and Ghorahi Cement are instances of how mega industrial projects in the country are suffering due to the government ’s inability to ensure them with industrial infrastructures, such as electricity. Scores of cement industries are also going through hard times after the government failed to supply electricity to manufacturing units.
The government ’s failure to ensure electricity to cement plants, even in the country’s industrial hubs like Hetaunda and Dang, has raised serious questions about the government ’s repeated commitment to provide a better industrial climate.“Even though the existing problems are left apart, the lack of electricity is making it difficult to run cement industries,” Pashupathi Murarka, vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said.
He said more than half a dozen other cement industries are facing the same problem, which has made Nepali cement products more expensive than Indian cement. “The industrial operation of cement industries is around 25 percent higher due to the lack of electricity, which prompts us to run diesel generators,” said Murarka, who also runs the Arghakhachi Cement.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry (MoI) has allocated Rs 360 million for providing electrical connections to nine cement factories under the infrastructural development programme for manufacturing industries. Though the government promised to offer the facilities years ago, the budget for the current fiscal year has allotted the funds.
The industries chosen for the government announced incentive are Shivan Cement, Dang Cement, Laxmi Cement, Rolpa Cement, Ghorahi Cement, United Cement, Maruti Cement, Sarbottam Cement and CG Cement.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
