Kathmandu, June 6
Nepal Flour Mills Association
(NFMA) has demanded that the government should take initiatives to formulate a
long-term policy to increase wheat production, and to provide facilities to the
flour mills by including them in the category of agricultural industry.
"Since flour is a 100 per cent agricultural
processing industry, the government should take initiatives to keep the mills under
the agricultural industry and provide facilities accordingly," the
association demanded at its 23rd Annual General Meeting held the
other day in the capital.
Likewise, it asked for simplifying the wheat
import procedure from India as the raw materials of flour wheat are not enough
from the production of Nepal. However, stating that since the country has
become self-sufficient in flour, there is no need to import flour from abroad.
Export subsidy to protect the domestic industry as
it has a high potential of third country export and providing subsidy on such
exports, maintaining the bank interest
rate at single digit, fair competition in the market, and revision of the customs
evaluation of wheat and flour imports, and insurance premium of flour industry
are other demands put forth by the association.
Similarly, it recommended setting the customs duty
at 1 per cent while importing wheat for the industry as its raw materials.
About Rs. 17 billion is invested in flour mills in
Nepal and it has created more than 4,000 jobs, according to the association
Meanwhile, the meeting unanimously elected Kumud
Kumar Dugar as its new President for the
second term. It also elected first vice-president Dinesh Kumar Agarwal, second
vice-president Arun Goenka, third vice-president, Bikas Begwani, general
secretary Radheshyam Agarwal, secretaries Anand Ojha, Dhiraj Golcha and Sanjay
Agarwal, and treasurer Binod Kumar Agarwal. The new working committee of 17
people, including members, has been elected unanimously.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 7 June 2023.
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