February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. The process was initiated through a ministerial-level decision taken by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).

The MoICS has written to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to proceed with the process of providing 311 bighas of land in D and E blocks of SEZ to the Industrial District Management Limited, a corporate entity established by the government in 1988 for the overall management and supervision of industrial districts as well as promotion of industries within those districts.

The SEZ structure has been prepared in three blocks, A, B and C, spread over 800 bighas of land. Preparations have been made for setting up an industrial area in the other blocks.

Earlier, the Industrial District Management Limited had submitted a preliminary report recommending that the land of SEZ should be turned into an industrial area.

The MoICS has concluded that Simra is the best place for the development of industrial sector. Being close to the country’s biggest dry port and sea ports of neighbouring India, this place is best suited for industrial sector also because of its trade route and other infrastructure.

The letter written by the MoICS mentions that the proposal for the construction of the industrial zone has been passed by the Board of Directors of the Industrial District Management Limited and SEZ Authority.

Hari Gautam, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the industrialists have been demanding a new industrial area due to the difficulty in acquiring land for industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal had been assuring the industrialists about the creation of industrial zones.

Gautam said that the industrialists were struggling to acquire land in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor for setting up new industries. In such a situation, the government’s initiative to create a new industrial zone has made the entrepreneurs optimistic, said Gautam.

The entrepreneurs are not attracted towards SEZ due to the mandatory provision of exporting certain percentage of products manufactured in the SEZ. Therefore, they had been demanding to make SEZ an industrial zone.