Govt. Power Monopoly Reduced Losses
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is planning to impose power cuts upto 11 hours a day in the coming dry season (November-April) when the peak time power deficit is forecast to be as much as 354 megawatts. The longest load shedding of 11 hours will happen in the month of February and March and Birgunj will be the worst hit city, according to the NEA source.
The country suffered load shedding also during the rainy season that is about to end now. According to Sher Singh Bhat, Acting Director, system operations of the NEA, since the national grid is still short of power by 110 MW, the NEA has no option but to impose power cuts throughout the year. The country needs 640 megawatts of electricity at present but only 540 MW is being generated. The authorities estimate that the demand is growing by 50 to 60 MW every year.
According to one employee leader of the NEA, the current load shedding is exacerbated due to closure of Kulekhani Second where the turbine is out of order. This has taken off 16 MW from the NEA grid. While addressing a program organized to mark the 22nd anniversary of the NEA, Dhruba Kumar Upreti, the president of NEA Employees’ Association also informed that both Modi and Gandak electricity projects (combined capacity 30 MW) are also closed at present.
On the other hand, the NEA has reported failure to achieve the stated goal of controlling the power leakage in the fiscal year of 2006/07 and it has blamed the political situation for the same. According to the NEA report, that year, the power leakage was at 24.94 percent while it was 25.12 percent in the year before that.
However, the total revenue of NEA increased in 2006-07 by 12.20 percent over the previous year to reach Rs. 15.67 billion. In the same period, NEA’s operating cost increased by 11.22 percent thus reducing the annual net loss to Rs. 329 million, a decrease of hefty 74 percent compared to the previous year when the net loss totaled Rs. 1.26 billion.
But the reduction in losses was not due to enhanced efficiency of the NEA. As the NEA has stated, the loss was reduced due to devaluation of the US dollar and decrease in the interest rate on the loan from the government to 8 percent from previous 10.25.
Three Pharma Companies Receive GMP
Department of Drug Administration has awarded Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificates to three pharmaceutical companies - Lomus Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaco Industries and Elder Universal Pharmaceuticals.
The department awards such certificates to those pharmaceutical companies that meet good manufacturing practice standards set by United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO). The department started to award GMPs since 2004.
Meanwhile, four pharma companies have failed to renew their GMP certificates. They are Nepal Pharmaceuticals Lab of Parsa, Omnica Laboratories of Bhaktapur, Quest Pharmaceuticals of Bara and Vijay Deep Laboratories of Harisiddhi, Lalitpur.
Among the 40 pharma-ceutical companies of Nepal, there are only 11 companies which have received the GMPs.
Among the new recipients, Lomus has received the GMP for a period of two years whereas Pharmaco and Elder both have received it for one year.
According to Navin Shrestha, Chief of the Inspection of the Department, Lomus got the GMP for two years mainly because it has been utilizing the most modern technology available so far. Spread across 24000 sq. ft. of area, Lomus factory at Gothatar of Bhaktapur has been producing 250 registered brands of medicine in the forms of tablets, capsules, syrup, gel, dental medicines and different kinds of hormones. Lomus Pharmaceutical has already received ISO 9001 and 14001.
Pharmaco factory is located at Dhalko of Kathmandu whereas Elder Universal has its factory located in Bhairahwa.
Simca Laboratories, with its factory located at Balkumari Thimi of Bhaktapur, was denied the GMP by the Department.
The government has decided to procure medicines for government-run health services only from the GMP certified manufacturers. However, this decision is not yet implemented.
According to one estimate, the Nepali market consumes medicines worth Rs. 9 billion in which the share of the domestic manufacturers is only around 35 percent.
Powder Milk Factory Coming Up in Pokhara
Sujal Dairy Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Sujal Foods Pvt. Ltd., is finalizing installation of a powder milk factory in Pokhara with an investment of Rs. 250 million.
Planned to be commissioned by mid-November, this factory is going to be the first in its kind from the country’s private sector. While one powder milk factory is in operation in Biratnagar under the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation, another one is being set up in Chitwan by the private sector construction company Chitwan Co-E.
According to Anjan Shrestha, the executive Director of Sujal Foods, 30 percent of construction work has already been completed in the Pokhara factory which will in the beginning produce 5000 kg of powder milk every day. The capacity is planned to increase gradually to 7000 kg per day.
It is estimated that 6000 MT of powder milk is consumed in the country per year.
Fewer Cases at Labor Court
Even though the country’s industry and commerce sectors continue to suffer due to the political unrests, the number of cases filed on the Labour Court decreased in the fiscal year that ended on mid-July 2007 giving an impression of improved situation of labour relations.
According to the records of the Labour Court, in the fiscal year 2006/07, it received only 70 cases whereas in the previous year 2005/06 the number was 90.
Pepsi's Bottler Expands into Beer
Varun Beverages Pvt. Ltd., the Nepali bottler of Pepsi range of soft drinks is all set to launch a German brand of beer in the Nepali market. The company has already entered into housing market.
According to information, it has already signed agreement with Inbev, the Belgium based world’s largest beer company to produce and sell in Nepal Lowenbrau brand of beer. The brewing is to be done in the brewery of SunGold Beverage of Chaudhary Group. The plan is to launch the Lowenbrau before the Dashain festival.
Varun Beverage is fully owned by Pepsi India.
Nepali market consumes almost 420 million bottles of beer every year. Out of that market, brands from Gorkha Brewery occupy about 85 per cent while the rest is shared among Mt. Everest Brewery, SunGold Beverage and United Brewery.
Nepse Floor Automated
Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) has joined other South Asian countries to introduce automated or computarised trading system putting an end to the outmoded system of Open Out Cry System. The new system came into practice recently. The software and hardware of the new system were installed by Comdaq of England and the application is based on Local Area Networking system. The NEPSE had furnished necessary training to the stock brokers in view of enable them to use the new technology.
Despite the arrival of automated system in the stock market, a mike is still being used to inform the customers of the daily trading patterns. According to Rewat Bahadur Karki, Manager of the NEPSE, the market will replace that system with an automated system soon and install a digital board which will provide live report of the transaction and other activities.
EPF to Invest in Upper Tamakoshi
Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is to invest in 309 MW Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project though it has not decided at the exact amount of investment. According to sources, the officials of EPF and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) have already hammered out a framework of the agreement. Now the EPF is giving the final shape to ensure enough security to the investment, informed Dr. Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, Chief Officer of the EPF.
The NEA is seeking Rs. 10 billion from the EPF for the project to be located at Lamabagar VDC of Dolkha district and billed to be the cheapest hydropower project in the country so far in terms of per unit cost.
The total project cost of Upper Tamakoshi is estimated at 340 million US dollars giving per unit cost of 2.6 US cents. The project is planned to generate 1.74 billion units of electricity in a year.
