Nepal Telecom, Insurance Board interested in buying National Trading land
KATHMANDU, APR 07 -
Two government agencies — Nepal Telecom (NT) and Insurance Board (IB) — have expressed interest in purchasing the land belonging to National Trading Limited (NTL).
The NTL, state-owned trading firm, plans to raise Rs 1 billion by selling its 18 ropanies of land at its central office in Teku, Kathmandu. NTL plans to utilise the money raised from land sale to diversify its business portfolio. “With the company’s financial health in bad shape, we decided to sell the land last year,” said NTL General Manager Pramila Yadav.
Last year, the government had allowed NTL to sell the land on condition that only government agencies could purchase the land. As per the Cabinet decision in June 2010, public enterprises cannot sell fixed assets to parties other than those under state control.
A three-member committee formed under the coordination of NTL Deputy General Manager Dilli Dhoj Karki is holding negotiations with the interested parties.
“Once the negotiation is settled, the boards of NTL and the buying agency will sign a deal,” Yadav said.
NT officials acknowledged that they are interested in buying the land. “We are planning to buy the land for constructing an official complex,” said high-level NT official.
NT has formed a committee that has already held the first round of negotiations with NTL. “We will purchase the land if we find the price reasonable,” said the official without divulging how much NT plans to pay for the land.
With the enforcement of the Public Procurement Act that does not allow state-owned companies to get directly involved in purchase of goods, NTL’s business has been limited to selling a few items. The company, which used to sell a range of imported machinery and commodity items, is now only selling liquor, sugar, cement, and petroleum products.
The company is currently doing business as the authorised distributor of state-owned Udaypur Cement and Hetauda Cement. Along with Salt Trading Limited, it is also involved in importing and selling sugar.
NTL has loans worth around Rs 700 million, including Rs 150 million from the Finance Ministry. According to Yadav, 80 percent of the money received from the land sale will be used for business diversification.
NTL currently owns around 50 ropanies of land in Teku. It also has around 26 ropanies in Ram Shah Path, Kathmandu, and land plots in Biratnagar, Birgunj, Mahendranagar and Surkhet, among others.
Source: ekantipur
