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With India delaying Nepal’s request to approve sales of electricity from additional hydropower projects to the Indian energy market, fear is growing that the country will once again face power spillage like last year. Currently, the southern neighbor has granted approval for 10 hydropower projects to sell a total of 452.6 MW of power to India’s day-ahead market where prices are fixed a day earlier than the day when trading takes place. It has been several months since the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) sought approval from Indian authorities to supply 1,000 MW of electricity generated by more power projects to the southern neighbor’s power market. In the rainy season last year, the country’s electricity spillage reached as high as 800 MW during the festive period in October and November. With industrial power demand declining sharply due to the closure of industries during the holiday season, the domestic energy demand fell to as low as 700 MW. Till last year, the total installed capacity of Nepal’s power projects was more than 2,200 MW while Indian authorities had granted approval to export 364 MW from Nepal. Now, Nepal’s generation capacity has already reached nearly 2,700 MW which requires more exports to India to avoid spillage in the rainy season when power plants start generating power at their full capacity. “Approval process is undergoing not only to sell power in India’s day-ahead market but also for selling 200MW under the five-year-long power purchase agreement,” said Kul Man Ghising, Managing Director of NEA at a press meet on Sunday. “We are hopeful that the Indian authorities will grant approval for more power projects to sell power before spillage takes place.” He said that NEA is not worried about the power spillage at least for a month with the current generation not being enough even to export the currently approved 452.6 MW. “At least until mid-August, rainfalls remain erratic and power generation also remains unstable,” said Ghising adding that the hydropower plants would be able to produce at their full capacity on a daily basis from mid-August to November. Starting from June 12, Nepal resumed exporting power to India regularly as continuous rainfalls increased water levels in the rivers helping power projects to generate more electricity. With the late arrival of the monsoon, regular export of power to India resumed late compared to last year when Nepal had started exporting power from June 2. Monsoon clouds arrived in the country in the middle of June after Nepal witnessed a prolonged drought this year. However, the country's power generation capacity is rising along with the completion of one after another power projects. The country’s power generation capacity is expected to rise to 2,853 MW by the end of the current fiscal year, according to NEA. The projected peak domestic demand for power in the current fiscal year is 2,036 MW. “The country is expected to produce surplus energy of 1,000 MW in this wet season,” said Ghising. “But in the night time, power demands are lower and the country has to export more power compared to other times.” By the end of the next fiscal year 2023/24, the country’s electricity generation capacity is expected to rise further to 4,507 MW and to 5,251 MW by the end of fiscal 2024/25. Besides increasing domestic consumption, boosting exports will be required to ensure that power is not spilled. “For this, it is necessary to invest heavily in improving domestic transmission and distribution networks and cross-border power lines,” said Ghising. He said that electricity could be a leading export product for the country contributing to reducing the ballooning trade deficit of the country. Nepal exported power worth over Rs 11bn in the last wet season. “There is scope for increased earnings from exporting power in the upcoming years,” said Ghising.

The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has suspended the entire process related to the initial public offering (IPO) of Ghorahi Cement Industries. The board stopped the IPO process after the company extended the application deadline even when the IPO was oversubscribed. According to Sebon sources, Ghorahi Cement’s IPO has been postponed after 12m units of fraudulent applications were found. After the continuous surge in fake applications, Sebon sent a letter to the issue manager Himalayan Capital to suspend the IPO process immediately. On Monday, CDS and Clearing Limited issued a warning regarding fraudulent applicants during the IPO process. It was found that nine applicants applied for one million shares each even though they do not have sufficient funds in their bank accounts. On June 13, Sebon sent a letter to the Care Rating Nepal asking it to send a reply within three days saying whether it did or did not violate the primary share rating rules of the company. The board has said it stopped the IPO process after the rating agency did not reply to the letter. According to Sebon, it has stopped the Ghorahi Cement IPO keeping in mind the interest of the general investors as the company extended the application deadline even after the IPO was oversubscribed. A total of 544,247 applicants have applied for the shares of Ghorahi Cement till 2 pm Monday. Ghorahi Cement opened an IPO for 6,911,670 units of shares for the general public at Rs 435 per share on June 15. The deadline for the IPO was June 19. However, the company on Monday extended the deadline to June 29. Generally, if the IPO is oversubscribed within four days, the deadline is not extended. The company already opened an IPO, from May 2 to May 16 for project-affected locals and Nepalis employed abroad, which went undersubscribed.  

The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday issued a directive to open brokers’ new license process. A meeting of the Committee held in Singha Durbar this afternoon directed Securities Board of Nepal, the regulatory body of capital market, and Nepal Stock Exchange to open the brokers’ new license process. The Committee, which had issued a directive to stop the process of distributing new licenses earlier, directed Sebon and NEPSE to open the brokers’ new license process today after holding a discussion. Committee President Santosh Chalise said that the directive to proceed with the process was issued after the ambiguity in this matter was removed. Chalise said that the meeting decided to direct Sebon and NEPSE through the Finance Ministry to issue the permits to brokers and traders if they meet the standard. During the meeting, Sebon Chairman Ramesh Hamal said that the permits will be issued to those who meet the set standard and process. He said that the decision to issue the permit was made by the board of directors, not by individuals.    

With the government gearing up to increase the minimum wage of workers effective from the start of the new fiscal year 2023/24, negotiations are ongoing between government officials and representatives of the private sector, and labor unions. As per the country’s labor law, the minimum wage of workers should be reviewed every two years. Since the government increased the minimum wage in mid-July 2021, it is planning to fix the new wage by mid-July 2023. The monthly minimum wage of workers is currently Rs 15,000 which was increased from Rs 13,450 in mid-July 2021. The government set the daily wage at Rs 577 and the hourly wage at Rs 77. Of the Rs 15,000 monthly wage, Rs 9,385 is monthly salary and Rs 5,615 is dearness allowance. In addition, organizations have to provide additional facilities including gratuity and contributions to the Social Security Fund. While tripartite talks are going on, it is yet to be known how much the minimum wage will be increased this time around. While the government is preparing to revise the salary on the basis of inflation and the consumer price index, the private sector is hesitant to increase the minimum wage at this time citing the economic slowdown for the inability of businesses to raise the salaries of their employees. The Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security (MoLESS) has formed a recommendation committee for wage determination under the leadership of Joint Secretary Danduraj Ghimire. The committee also has representatives of concerned stakeholders that include the Department of Labor, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), and labor unions. The committee has been mandated to recommend the new minimum wage to MoLESS. While the labor law does not specifically state how much the wage should be increased, the minimum wage is fixed taking account of inflation, price index, and the last salary increment. According to a member of the committee, they are now in the final stage of drafting the report to be presented to the Labor Ministry. Nepal Rastra Bank, FNCCI and CNI, and General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) have submitted separate reports for determining the new wage. The private sector bodies have submitted reports demanding that wages should not be increased as the business sector is facing problems due to the economic downturn. On the other hand, GEFONT has submitted a report with the demand to increase the salary. All these reports will be discussed in the committee’s meeting on June 21. According to private sector representatives, the capacity utilization of industrial enterprises has declined due to the slump in market demand, making it difficult for businesses to increase the minimum wage this time. “Because of the economic slowdown, there is a situation where we have to cut down the jobs. This is the time the government and the private sector need to work together to save employment,” said Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, Senior vice president of CNI. “If the wages are increased at this time, businesses will be affected and it will be difficult to save the employment. Businesses are not in the position to bear the additional financial burden.” According to Agrawal, the minimum wage can be increased once the economy comes out of the slump. “We are positive about increasing wages. And, it is also necessary. But we are not ready for it now because of the economic situation of the country,” he said. While employers have their reservations over the wage increment, trade unions are of the view that their minimum wage should be increased to Rs 26,000. According to them, wages should be determined scientifically. Trade unions have asked the government to set the minimum monthly wage of workers at Rs 26,000. The minimum wage should be on par with the salary of civil servants, they say. “Currently, the salary of the lowest-level government staff i.e., office assistant is Rs 26,348 rupees. We have demanded to raise the minimum wage of workers to this level,” said Janak Chaudhary, Vice President of GEFONT. “If not, the government should make a separate arrangement for the protection of workers. Additional facilities such as providing subsidies, arranging ration cards, and making mandatory contributions to the Social Security Fund should be guaranteed.”

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 200 per tola in the domestic market on Tuesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 111, 800 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 112, 000 per tola on Monday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 111, 250 per tola. It was traded at Rs 111, 450. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,430 per tola today.

Two persons died after a landslide buried them at Gunadi in Myagde Rural Municipality-1 of Tanahun district on Monday evening. The deceased have been identified as Bhim Bhujel (33) of Shivasatakshi Municipality-1 in Jhapa district and Bal Bahadur Rai (40) of Katari Municipality-7 in Udaypur district, according to the District Police Office, Tanahun. The landslide buried them while they were constructing a wall on the road side along the Muglin-Pokhara road section. Bhim died in course of treatment at Damauli Hospital while Bal Bahadur in Pokhara, said DSP Mohan Bahadur Khand. Similarly, Krishna Lingden (45) of Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, who was injured in the incident, is receiving treatment at Ratnahari Hospital, Damauli and his condition is normal, said police.    

Search for those missing in a landslide at Mehele in Sidingba Rural municipality-6 of Taplejung on June 18 is underway. Locals and police personnel have been carrying out a search operation for the missing ones. The landslide that occurred on Saturday swept away four persons including three members of a single family. Of them, one was found dead on Sunday morning while three members of a single family—Bhagimaya Budha Chhetri (63), her daughter-in-law Sandhya (30) and grandson Prajjwal, (9), are still missing, according to spokesperson at the District Police office, Taplejung, Kushum Ram Karki. According to the District Police Office, Keshar Bahadur Rai (67) of Mehele and his son were found dead in a landslide on Sunday morning. Similarly, injured Raj Kumar Rai (45) has been airlifted to Neuro Hospital, Biratnagar, on a chopper of Nepali Army this morning for further treatment from Panchthar District Hospital, according to the District Disaster Management Committee.  

An earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale jolted Darchula district on Tuesday. The earthquake with its epicenter at Khandeshowri in the district was recorded at 4:55 am today, according to the National Seismological Centre, Lainchour. Earlier on June 12, the earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale was also recorded in Bajura district.