June 21: After two month’s hiatus, the Hetauda Cement Industry has resumed production from Wednesday morning.

The industry has also commenced the production of clinkers. The closure was necessitated by the breakdown of equipment in the industry's oven and a coal shortage, according to industry management.

To address the coal shortage, the industry's General Manager, Basanta Raj Pandey, said that they had imported high-quality coal through a bidding process from India, Indonesia, and Bhutan.

The industry has already received 1,800 metric tonnes of coal in the first and second installments, with the remaining 1,200 metric tonnes scheduled to be imported within the next month.

In the meantime, the government-owned cement industry has reported a loss of over Rs 111 million by the end of the current fiscal year, 2022/23. The total accumulated loss for the industry now stands at Rs 900 million, according to the management.