New industrial estates will be built under PPP model
BUTWAL, April 9: Work to prepare detailed project report (DPR) for three new industrial estates in the country has begun as per the government policy of having at least one industrial estate in all seven provinces.
The DPRs is being prepared for industrial estates in Motipur of Butwal, Mayurdhaap of Makwanpur and Naubasta of Banke. The government has already arranged land and conducted feasibility study in all the three sites.
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Nanda Kishor Basnet, chairman of Industrial Districts Management Ltd (IDML), said consulting firms have already reached the project sites to prepare DPR. The firms had signed separate agreements with IDML on March 30, agreeing to prepare DPR within seven months.
“We have already arranged land for industrial estates in Makwanpur, Butwal and Banke. Work to prepare DPR for these projects has already begun,” Basnet said, adding: “The land has already come under IDML's ownership.”
In the first phase, 813 bigha of land in Motipur, 200 bigha in Mayurdhaap and 338 bigha in Naubasta will be brought under the ownership of IDML, according to Basnet.
The government has allocated Rs 490 million in the current fiscal year to conduct feasibility study and prepare DPR for the new industrial estates.
“In addition to these three sites, we are also conducting feasibility study for establishing industrial estates in Daigi of Kanchanpur, Murtiya of Sarlahi, Lamki of Kailali and Shaktikhor of Chitwan as well as in Damak of Jhapa, Satakhani of Surkhet, Chyangliphat of Gorkha and Laxmipur of Dang,” Basnet said, adding that the new industrial estates will be eco-friendly and far from residential areas. “If we have, say, 1,000 bigha, we can accommodate 1,000 medium-scale industries in 700 bigha and build solar thermal power plant as well as green area in remaining 200 bigha.”
IDML had started looking for suitable areas to build industrial estates in all seven provinces as per the decision of the erstwhile government led by KP Sharma Oli.
The government plans to develop these industrial estates under public private partnership (PPP) model. According to Basnet, one industrial estate can provide direct employment opportunities to more than 100,000 people. “If all seven industrial estates are built, around 700,000 will be directly employed, while more than 3 million will be indirectly benefited,” he added.
The first industrial estate in Nepal was established in Balaju in 1960. The government has not established any industrial estate since Rajbiraj Industrial Estate came into operation in 1988. Currently, there are 11 industrial estates in the country.
