Over 60,000 industries operational in Nepal, employing about 400,000 people

Published On: April 29, 2023 08:00 AM NPT By: Basanta Dhungana


CHITWAN, April 29: The National Statistics Office (NSO) in Kathmandu has published the statistics of 60,185 industrial institutions in Nepal.

The NSO announced the provincial level results of the National Industrial Survey conducted in the fiscal year 2075/76 in Chitwan on Thursday.

Among these industries, there are 56,611 industries in the industrial production sector in Nepal. Among them, there are 5,017 large industries and 51,594 small industries. According to the statistics, there are 356 industries in the mining and quarrying sector, 994 in the electricity, gas, steam and environment friendly service sector and 2,224 industries in the sector of water supply, sewage disposal, waste management and its remedial activities.

Most of the industries are in Bagmati Province which has a total of 18,333 industries. Rajesh Dhital, director of the NSO, informed Republica that there are 1,635 industries in Karnali Province, which is the smallest in scale. There are 12,225 industries in Koshi Province, 10,508 in Lumbini Province, 7,279 in Madhesh Province, 6,818 in Gandaki Province, and 3,387 in Sudurpaschim Province.

In Nepal, 40 percent of the industries have been brought into operation with loans. According to the statistics of the National Industrial Survey, industries have been operated by taking loans from financial institutions and individuals. According to the survey, about 34 percent of the industries have taken loans from financial institutions and five percent have taken loans from small industrial institutions. About one percent have taken loan commitments. While 60 percent of industries have not taken loans.

About 500,000 involved

About 500,000 Nepalis are involved in Nepali industries. Dhital informed Republica that there are 491,000 people working in the industrial institutions including businessmen, partner organizations and workers.

“Among the workers, 6,485 people are involved in the mining and excavation sector,” he said while making the statistics public, “Similarly, 444,964 people are involved in the industrial sector.”

According to him, 21,593 people are in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning service sector And 18,185 people are employed in the field of water supply, sewage disposal, waste management and its remedial activities.

Bagmati Province has the highest number of 159,746 people involved in various industries. According to the published statistics, 95,964 people in Koshi Province, 87,067 in Lumbini, 80,773 in Madhesh, 40,632 in Gandaki, 20,049 in Sudurpaschim and 6,996 in Karnali Province are involved in different industries.

Employment to 375,000 people

The industries of Nepal have given employment to about 400,000 people. Approximately, 381,681 workers have been employed by these industries regularly receiving salary and wages. Among them, there are 346,143 people in the industrial production sector.

Similarly, 5,719 people are employed in the mining industry, 17,238 in the electricity and gas sector, and 12,587 in sewage waste management.

About Rs 107.89 billion spent on salaries/wages

The industries here spend Rs 107.89 billion annually on salaries/wages and other perks and benefits. According to the results of the survey, all the four industrial establishments in the industrial sector have spent that amount on the salaries and wages of the employees.

Employees working in industrial establishments earn an average of Rs 0.282 million annually. Employees in the industrial production sector earn the highest amount of Rs 95.77 billion. Thus, an employee in the industrial sector on an average receives 276,000 rupees. This amount is less than the average in other industries. Mining workers earn an average of Rs 314,973 per year. Employees working in the electricity and gas industry pay Rs 400,000 per annum. About 17,238 employees have been getting Rs 6.92 billion annually.

Production of goods and services worth Rs 1.2 trillion annually

Annually, the entire industrial sector produces goods and services worth around Rs 1.2 trillion. According to the survey report, it will cost Rs 846 billion to produce this product. It seems that industries add value worth about Rs 354 billion to Nepal's economy annually.

The cost to production ratio is 0.70 percent. Fixed assets of these industries are worth Rs 619 billion. The industries operating in Nepal have been operating for 270 days a year on average. Mining industries seem to be operating for 180 to 269 days, industrial establishments for 90 to 179 days and the remaining establishments for less than 90 days. The production capacity of the industry is 40 percent. However, the industries are not operating according to their capacity. Due to lack of raw materials, lack of demand in the market and lack of resources, the industries are in trouble.

The survey also shows that 63 percent of the industries were completely closed during the lockdown imposed by the government during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Similarly, it is said that 24 percent of the industrial establishments were partially operational and the remaining 13 percent were fully operational. During the lockdown, 17 percent of the workers left their jobs permanently without benefits. As much as 60 percent of the workers are temporarily separated from work without pay, according to the published statistics. The survey showed that 11 percent of the workers experienced a salary cut and the remaining 12 percent experienced a delay in receiving their salaries.


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