December 12: Nepali entrepreneurs have started producing tiles in the country using domestic raw materials. An industry has been established in Jitpur Simara sub-metropolis-8 for the production of tiles using home-made materials.    
Two entrepreneurs had been importing foreign tiles and hardware materials into the country since a long time established a joint venture company in Simara to begin production within Nepal. They came up with the idea to set up the industry in Nepal after carrying out in-depth study on tiles manufactured in India.    
The product has been launched in the market since this year. Nepal Ceramic Industries Pvt Ltd already introduced the Nepaovit brand tiles in the market.    
According to managing director of the industry, Manoj Rauniyar, almost 50 percent of the clay used for the production of the tiles was from Nepal. He shared that the industry has a plan to manufacture the tiles completely based on Nepali clay and sand after some months.    
Different types of clay have been brought from Bara, Makawanpur and Dolakha districts and used for manufacturing tiles. However, color and glaze used for the tiles have been imported from foreign countries.    
In the initial months, clay as a raw material was completely imported from Rajasthan, said Rauniyar, adding that the company started using Nepali clay later on.    
Chairman of the industry Shambhunath Jha shared his plan to diversify the production of tiles that can be used for walls.    
The industry spread over five bighas and 12 katthas of land was established at the cost of over Rs 1.5 billion. As many as 400 people are getting direct employment in the industry.    
"The industry would help make Nepal self-reliant on tiles ," Chairman Jha added. He urged the government to lend support in managing raw materials and marketing. -- RSS