Govt approves Rs. 30b ventures

Investment Summit from today

Kathmandu, Mar. 1: On the eve of the much-hyped Investment Summit, the government has approved an investment of Rs. 30 billion in various industries.

A meeting of the Industry and Investment Promotion Board (IPB) on Wednesday approved domestic and foreign investments in six companies. It also decided to hold legal consultation in the case of those companies, whose licenses were scrapped for failure to operate even in a decade.

The 222^nd meeting of the IPB was held under the chairmanship of Minister for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi.

The meeting has decided to allow the Soaltee Hotel to raise its paid-up capital by Rs. 1.64 billion to Rs. 2.90 billion.

"Likewise, it has allowed the merger of two companies into Arghakhanchi Cement Pvt. Ltd., which will create a venture worth Rs. 3 billion," informed the Ministry of Industry (MoI).

Similarly, Langtang Bhotekoshi, Sarbottam Cement and Sino Hydro Sagarmatha Power Company have been allowed to raise their paid-up capital while foreign investment in Swetganga Hydropower Construction Limited has been approved.

The meeting approved the capital increment plan of Rasuwa district-based Langtang Bhotekoshi. which allows the company of Rs. 2.3 billion to invest an additional Rs. 17.49 billion, and increase the production capacity by 22.5 megawatts, making it a 120 MW hydropower project. 

Sarbottam Cement currently has a capital of Rs. 6 billion and will inject Rs. 3.97 billion to the project.

Swetganga is developing the 28 MW Lower Likhu Khola hydropower project along the border of Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga districts.

The board has also allowed Sino Sagarmatha Hydro, a Nepal-China joint-venture company that has developed the Marsyangdi A hydel project, to increase its capital by Rs. 3.40 billion.

Joshi said that the requests of the companies to raise their capital had been pending for a couple of years.

"Investors are eager to invest in many sectors in Nepal. We have turned a discouraging situation into a motivating one for both domestic and foreign investors. Various policy reforms are underway in order to improve the investment climate in the country," he said.

He expressed his belief that the decision made on the eve of the much-hyped Investment Summit would have a positive impact on the investors.

"In addition to it, it will convey a message that the Government of Nepal will facilitate the investors in every possible way," said the minister.

The meeting of the IPB has also decided to seek legal opinion from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs regarding the idle companies, whose registration was annulled following the implementation of the new Industrial Enterprise Act, 2016.

The Act has a provision that allows the government to scrap the licenses of those companies that remain idle for more than 10 years after their registration. They were obliged to renew their licenses before a month of the deadline.

As the investors and businessmen were unaware of the new legal provisions, they failed to renew their licenses. As a result, the licenses of about 1,500 companies, including Kalinchowk Darshan Pvt. Ltd., Kabeli A Hydro, Sindhu Jwala Hydro and Birat Petroleum were scrapped.

According to the Department of Industry, about three dozen industries, whose licenses were cancelled, have applied to renew themselves.

PM to inaugurate the Summit

The first-ever Investment Summit, sponsored by the government, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda at the Hotel Soaltee on Thursday.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Jin Liqun will deliver the key note speeches. 

Investment sectors with high yield potential, such as energy and infrastructure, information and information technology, tourism, financial sector, mines and minerals, and agro-processing industry will be discussed in the summit.

According to the MoI, more than 500 investors will participate in the two-day conference, and more than 300 Nepalese investors will also participate in the summit.  

The government hopes that a commitment of more than Rs. 100 billion in investment will be made in the summit.