Nepal makes efforts to reopen largest cloth mill

Efforts are on to re-open Nepal's biggest cotton cloth factory after a gap of seven years, which was built in cooperation with China, an official of a non-governmental organization (NGO) said here Saturday.

Following the closure of the factory, the government cleared the dues of the employees and workers and appointed some officials for completing the liquidation process of the factory, according to Arun Raj Sumargi, coordinator of Makawanpur chamber of commerce and industry, a NGO comprising local business community.

The government spent a sum of 150 million rupees (2.14 million U.S. dollars) for clearing up the dues of the factory, which had 1, 200 employees at the time of its closure.

Various people including industrialists and former employees of the factory are thinking of ways to reopen the factory which has the capacity of producing 10 million meters of cotton cloth annually, Sumargi said.

For this, a committee has been constituted under the supervision of member of the chamber, Sumargi added.

A primary study showed that the factory, which was set up in 1975 and began commercial operations in 1978 and closed down in 1999 due to the poor management, needs a capital of 10 million rupees (142,857 dollars) for restarting its productions again, Sumargi told reporters.

During the time of its establishment, the factory had 140 million rupees (2 million dollars) as fixed capital and 5.5 million rupees (78,571 dollars) as current capital.

The factory, which is located in Makawanpur district in central Nepal, some 100 km south of Kathmandu, had the largest number of women employees when it was in operation.

"A study is also underway to study the possibility of operating the factory as a cooperative," Sumargi said.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the chamber is scheduled to visit the Russian Federation next week, according to Sumargi.

"We will urge Russian investors to invest in the factory," Sumargi said.

Source: Xinhua