March 30: Rajendra Raut, president of the Koshi Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has said that the industries established in the industrial corridors without proper study face risk of closure.

Speaking at an interaction with the industrialists of the industrial corridor organized by the Koshi chapter of FNCCI on Tuesday, he pointed out that the main reason for the closure of various industries including textile, jute, sugar industries in the Morang-Sunsari industrial corridor is the lack of study during the establishment of the industry.

Raut said that the industries are being established and operated without sufficient study of the market and demand. He suggested that the industrialists should pay attention to this issue.

He said that it has become difficult to operate domestic industries because the market price of imported products is lower than local products. Other problems include unannounced power cuts, increase in production costs, the government's inability to spend capital expenditure.

During the program, Mahesh Pokharel of Reliance Spinning Mills expressed his concern that although the textile industry is the main basis of the world's industrial revolution and economic development, it has not been given due importance in Nepal.

He claimed that 10 large textile industries in the corridor have been closed because the government did not give priority to protect domestic industries.

Pradeep Niraula of Pragati Textiles suggested that the government should stop the illegal import of clothes to save the textile industry. Likewise, Somnath Adhikari, director of Raghupati Jute Mill, said that jute cultivation in Nepal is being stopped and industries are becoming problematic.

He added that India's anti-dumping policy and other problems have posed a great challenge for the jute industry. Niraula added that  the government has not made efforts to export jute.

During the interaction, stakeholders also discussed the closure of large, medium and small industries such as copper wire, vegetable ghee, zinc oxide, plastic industry in the Morang-Sunsari industrial corridor. The industrialists suggested that the state should find out the reasons for the closure of those industries and determine the future industrial strategy.