KATHMANDU, July 30: The government registered 322 firms in the last fiscal year, which was 4.2 percent more than that of the figure in the previous fiscal year.

According to the Department of Industry (DoI), the aforementioned numbers of the firms include investment from both the domestic and foreign sectors. The new firms have pledged to invest Rs 214 billion and proposed to provide employment opportunities to 23,324 individuals. Of the registered ones, 66 were large-scale firms, 70 were medium-sized and 186 were small-scale firms.

The Industrial Enterprises Act 2020 has categorized the business with fixed capital of up to Rs 150 million as small firms. Likewise, the firms with the capital investment of Rs 150-500 million fall under medium and those with capital investment of more than Rs 500 million are categorized as large firms.

A total of 82 production units took permission for the preliminary environmental assessment. Similarly, 404 producers approved value addition in their products to claim for the export subsidies.

According to the DoI, it took actions against 150 companies for violating the rule of intellectual property rights last year. During the review period, the government body registered 3,254 new trademarks, 18 designs and five patent rights.

Meanwhile, during the fiscal year 2022/23, a total of 114 manufacturing companies proposed to install their production units in the country.  They pledged to invest Rs 42 billion in total. These industries have sought to provide employment to more than 10,000 people.

Out of these firms, eight proposed to invest more than Rs 1 billion. Kajaria Ramesh Tiles expressed its commitment to invest Rs 4 billion for its production. The amount promised by the joint venture company was the largest among all.  

According to the company, it has started building its production plant in Bhairahawa. The manufacturer of floor and wall tiles will be utilizing 4,000 kVA of electricity.    

The DoI records show that the country registered 498 firms in 2017/18, which fell to 439 in the following year. The pledged number further declined to as low as 277 in 2019/20 and 203 in 2020/21.

In the past two years, the pledged number of firms started to rise, with Nepal registering 309 new firms in 2021/22. In the year, 116 sought to invest in manufacturing plants.  

 
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