March 30: The production of industries in the Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor has been reduced to 40 percent of their capacity following an unannounced load-shedding of 14-hour a day. Industrialists have cried foul to the power cuts to the industry, which is already reeling under liquidity crisis, rising interest rates, and the crisis in Ukraine.

According to the industrialists of the corridor, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off electricity supply to industries consuming more than one megawatt of electricity on the pretext that  it has not been able to import electricity from India due to high cost.

The Morang Trade Association, Chamber of Industries Morang, and Province 1 chapter of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries held a joint press conference on Tuesday and expressed outrage over the NEA's unusual behavior. They accused the government of conspiring to bring the private sector back to the state of 10 years ago under various pretexts. 

Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said in a press release that the 14-hour power outage in the industrial sector had unexpectedly reduced production, left workers unemployed, and also resulted in failure to pay the bank interest on time. The federation has urged to resolve the issue immediately as it will also affect the government’s revenue collection.

Speaking at the joint press conference, Navin Rijal, president of the Morang Trade Association, said that the industrialists were affected twice when the NEA increased the price of electricity and the Nepal Oil Corporation increased the price of diesel. He said that the industrialists should be able to buy diesel at reasonable charges when the price of electricity goes up, and the price of electricity should go down when the price of diesel goes up.

Rijal argues that the state should ease the current situation by reducing unnecessary expenditure.

He said that there is no need to worry when the banks’ profit declines. According to Rijal, the interest rate should be maintained at 6 percent and Rs 40 billion savings should be brought to the market.

Chairman of the Chamber of Industries Morang, Suyash Raj Pyakurel, said that the NEA has acted strangely by urging them to increase electricity consumption but has cut the supply after 12 noon.

He said that the government should not force the industrialists to buy electricity at expensive rate.  He said that the state should not back off saying that there is a problem. “It should seek appropriate solution immediately."

Bhim Ghimire, president of Province 1 chapter of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, complained that industries were shutting down due to a lack of electricity, high interest rate of banks, and liquidity crisis.

He said that the government should find a timely solution to this problem as the workers would be left unemployed when the industry is shut down, they would not be able to pay the bank installments on time and the government would not be able to levy taxes.

Constituent Assembly member and former president of the Morang Trade Association Pawan Kumar Sharda said that the government had deceived the industrialists and businessmen. He said that the double standard of the banks and the government has worked to bring the industrial sector back to the level it was 10 years ago. 

"The banks give loans to the industry but they increase the interest rate unbearably. The government pledges electricity but cuts the supply when the plant is set up. This has put the industrialists in debt trap," he said.