NATIONAL9 [ (Spotlight Weelky)]

"Present Government Policies Do Not Encourage Investment"

— RAJESH BABU SHRESTHA

The temple of Manakamana-- the wish fulfilling deity -- is one of the most popular sites for pilgrimage in Nepal. Located atop a steep hill, the visit to the temple used to be an arduous half-day task. It was before Manakamana Darshan Pvt Ltd launched a cable car service about a year ago. A new and innovative idea, the cable car has not only caught the attention of general public but has also induced a number of songs in Nepalese films. Basking on the success of the venture, Rajesh Babu Shrestha, Managing Director of Manakamana Darshan Pvt Ltd, spoke to SPOTLIGHT about the cable car and the prevailing atmosphere of investment in the country. Excerpts:

How come you decided to invest in a cable car -- previously unheard of in this country?

Actually, it was my father (Laxman Babu Shrestha) who dreamt of constructing cable car in this country. Having seen cable car in foreign countries, we thought that it would be a good idea to construct one in Nepal to boost the tourism industry here. And because we were a native from Gorkha district, we decided to construct a cable car to link the famous temple of Manakamana located in the district.

One year has already passed since you started the operation of Manakamana cable car. How has been the return on your investment till now?

We have invested about 420 million rupees in total in this project. At present, the general tariff per person is fixed at Rs 250 (excluding 10% VAT) for two way travel. As such, we are confident to recover our investment in seven years.

How has been the flow of visitors?

Ever since the cable car came into operation from November, 1998, the flow of visitors has been encouraging. In the past the annual number of visitors travelling to Manakamana hardly crossed 1.5 lakh. Now, the number has increased by more than three-fold. Besides, earlier people mostly used to visit the temple during winter months but now each day about 1600 people in average visit the temple regardless of season.

Has the cable car drawn the attention of tourists?

Yes, Indians comprise of 30% of the total visitors these days. And tourists from other countries, too, are visiting it.

Is the Manakamana cable car one of the longest cable car in Asia?

According to the Dopplemeyer, the Austrian company that constructed this Manakamana cable car, it is the longest the company has constructed. The total inclined length of our cable car in 3.1 km. Among monocable cable cars there is one such facility in Malaysia that is 3 kms long. Our cable car has 31 carriers, each with the capacity to carry 6 passengers. We have alternative power source like generators to continue its operation even during power failure. It takes less than ten minutes to reach the temple from Kurintar.

It is charged that the operation of Manakamana cable car has hampered the businesses of lodges atop the Manakamana hill as people now do not spend nights there as in the past. Is it true?

On the contrary, the operation of cable car has tremendously increased the flow of visitors to Manakamana hill. Although, people may have felt some short term impact, the increased visitors has brought a sea change. There are now more restaurants in the temple vicinity. The business of floriculture has increased and so has the business of goat farming. Previously due to the lack of market, oranges (for which Manakamana hill is very popular) were sold for as low as Rs 7 to 8 per kilo, but these days the rate has increased to Rs 35-40 per kilo. In fact we took the market up the Manakamana hill. The trend of local people to migrate in search of jobs has stopped and local investment to the tune of 30 to 40 million rupees has followed the advent of cable car. The Manakamana cable car itself has provided direct employment to 120 of which 90% are local people.

Do you have plans to invest in similar cable car projects in other parts of the country?

Definitely, if the government pursues favorable policies. We have studied few places like Champadevi where cable car can be built but it will have to be preceded by favorable government policies.

Do you mean the present policies are not favorable for investments?

The present policies are not exactly encouraging for investors. For example, the government has not encouraged us by not giving tax exemptions. Because we are tourism intensive business, we should also have been exempted from VAT. Although, it is the customer who will bear these taxes in the end, it does not motivate investors like us. Just the other day I received a fax that Gorkha and Chitawan District Development Committees have decided to raise local development tax from us. It is not that we do not want to pay tax, but to how many institutions do we have to pay it. Such trends are not investment friendly.