KATHMANDU, Sept 13: Factories in the Hetauda Industrial Estate have been operating at only 40 percent of their production capacity, thanks to the ongoing recession in the country that has taken down the market demand.
According to the Industrial Estate Management Limited (IEML), Hetauda, factories that used to operate for three shifts a day have now limited their working hours to a single shift. Bhoj Raj Bidari, chief of the IEML, Hetauda, said the financial condition of the production units started to dwindle in the past three years. He added that the return on investment has turned negative.
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Out of 147 production units in the IEML, 115 are under operation, while nine have already shut their businesses. Similarly, 23 industries are under construction. The factories at the IEML provide job opportunities to 5,000 individuals.
Krishna Kumar Gupta, president of Hetauda Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the conditions of industries are deteriorating due to soaring cost of their products, low market demand and ongoing economic recession. According to him, the consequences are critical. “The shops are empty, while the goods produced by the industries are just stockpiling, which is a serious problem.”
In that industrial estate, there are five industries related to construction materials, 28 industries related to plastic materials, three electrical materials industries and 11 each of food and beverage industry and chemical materials producers.
Likewise, six furniture industries, 15 engineering services, five packaging materials, two poultry and feed industries, one textile industry, three mining and 10 are categorized under ‘others.’ Likewise, there are 11 government and non-government offices and associations within the industrial area.
