KATHMANDU, Dec 8: The government has said that it would help the local bodies to build industrial villages in their respective areas.
The Ministry of Industry (MoI) has prepared a plan of building infrastructures for industrial villages if local bodies provide land for the purpose.
“If a local body brings a proposal to build industrial villages in their respective areas, the MoI will build necessary infrastructure there,” Pradeep Koirala, the joint secretary of Ministry of Industry (MoI), said. “To get the facility, the local bodies should submit a proposal to us and arrange needful land.”
The MoI has also appealed to the local bodies to come up with proposal if they want to build industrial villages in their areas. If the local bodies arrange land for industrial villages, the MoI will design the estate, construct buildings and other physical infrastructure and arrange power supply, among others, according to the ministry officials. “The main aim of the program is to strengthen industrial sector in local levels and develop skills of local people,” Koirala added.
There are a total of 753 local bodies across the country and the industry ministry believes industrial villages can be built in most of them.
A team led by Joint Secretary Gopi Krishna Khanal is preparing a working procedure to implement the program. The working procedure, among others, will the models of industrial villages, their operation modality and the facilities that the ministry needs to provide to the local bodies, according to Koirala. Such villages will have facilities like exhibition center and skill development center, among others.
The ministry is also preparing to make budgetary allocation for the program.
Sources at the ministry say Panauti Municipality of Kavre and Kolbi Municipality of Bara have already started scouting of land to build industrial villages. Other local bodies of Kavre have also taken initiative to build industrial villages in their respective areas.
As per the initial plan prepared by the ministry a minimum of 75 ropani of land is needed to build such industrial villages in mountainous districts, while minimum land requirement to build industrial villages in hilly and Tarai districts is 100 and 150 ropani, respectively. Land selected for industrial villages, however, should have facilities like water supply and road access, according to the ministry.
The ministry believes that opening of industrial villages in local bodies will, among others, help to find market for local products, and provide alternative source of income generation through optimum utilization of available resources for the locals. It also believes that industrial village in one local body can expand market in coordination with neighboring local bodies and vice versa.
Realizing that it is difficult to build industrial villages in all local bodies, especially in mountainous and hilly districts, ministry officials say it is possible to build such industrial villages at least in all the municipalities.
As the country has already adopted federal set up, each province will need to find source of revenue generation. Establishment of industrial villages in local bodies will help the provincial governments to create environment conducive for industrial sector as well as increase industrial production. The ministry believes that the program will help promote youth entrepreneurship at the local level.
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