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With the dry season affecting domestic power production, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started importing up to 350 MW of electricity daily from India. The government-owned power utility has said that the current average daily electricity production is between 900-1000 MWs. As production capacity drops to 40 percent during the dry season, NEA has to manage the electricity supply by importing from India. With a fall in temperature, the domestic demand for electricity hit as high as 30,125 MWh on Tuesday. NEA, however, supplied only 29,141 MWh of electricity, including domestically produced power and energy imported from India. Although Nepal has started exporting surplus electricity to India during the wet season, it has to import electricity in the dry season when demand rises while supply slumps. It is because almost all of the power production in the country is based on run-of-the-river hydropower plants. The dry season runs from December to April while the wet season lasts from May to November. According to NEA, the run-of-the-river type hydropower projects usually produce less than 40 percent of their installed capacity during the dry season. The government-owned power utility sold electricity worth Rs 11.16bn to India beginning in June last year until it stopped the exports in the third week of December last year owing to a decline in production during the dry season. India has allowed Nepal to sell 452.6MW of power generated by eight hydropower projects in India’s energy market. During the wet season in 2022, Nepal suffered spillage of power as domestic consumption slumped while there was approval for exporting power from India. According to NEA, over 700MW is expected to be added to the national grid in the current fiscal 2022/23 while over 550MW is expected to be added in the next fiscal year 2023/24. With more electricity that will be generated by various power projects across the country coming to the national grid in the current and next fiscal years, there is an urgent need to initiate the construction of more cross-border transmission lines between Nepal and India. According to Energy Ministry officials, Nepal and India will hold discussions on developing new cross-border transmission lines as the two countries have moved in the direction of creating a common electricity market in South Asia. The topic will be discussed in the upcoming meetings of the joint secretary-level Joint Working Group and secretary-level Joint Steering Committee to be held in India. NEA has proposed to develop a 400KV transmission line connecting Inaruwa of Nepal and Purnia of Bihar, India. Similarly, the 400kV New Lamki (Dodohara)-Bareli Cross Border Transmission Line has also been planned with the NEA preparing a comprehensive design of this project.

Akshay Golyan is the Managing Director of Golyan Group, one of the leading business houses in Nepal. As a third-generation member of the Golyan family, Akshay has been leading the group's business verticals for the past few years. ApEx caught up with Akshay to talk about the Golyan Group’s business plans. Excerpts: As someone with an academic degree from abroad, how applicable do you find your education to be when it comes to utilizing it for your group? I think education gives you the necessary knowledge to understand fundamental issues and use them in business according to the context of the country. Getting a good education is very important to holistically understand why things happen and how you can tackle the issues. My educational background ranges from finance, marketing, management, and accounting to business development. For me, this is relevant in the context of Nepal. The academic knowledge in these areas has helped me form a solid backbone with respect to business. What differs in Nepal is the way of working which differs from other countries. But the things I learned during my MBA program have provided me with the fundamental knowledge to manage the business. You represent the new generation in the Golyan Group. How have you planned the group's investment? As a group, we focus on four key verticals of Manufacturing, Hotels & Real Estate, Renewable Energy (hydropower and solar power) and Agriculture. Within these four broad sectors, we have certain plans to add new businesses. For example, we are studying an expansion project in our Reliance Spinning Mills. We are also working on establishing two new hotels in Nepal. And, there is also homework going on real estate and hydropower projects. We have tried to focus on these four sectors that are relevant to Nepal in terms of business and are also important for the country's growth. If we look at each sector, manufacturing is export-oriented. Hydropower is going to be the backbone of Nepal and there is the possibility that we will be the net exporter of electricity in the next 2-3 years. The problem is that our policies are not conducive to the things that are going to improve Nepal. Industries in the country are still struggling to get a reliable power supply. There are still 8–9 hours of power cuts in large industries including ours. While we talk about power exports to India highly, no one cares about the power cuts that domestic industries are currently facing. The agriculture sector has been the priority sector for the Golyan Group in recent years. What led the group to invest in this sector?  Though Golyan Agro is registered as a profit-oriented company, we don't trade in large margins. We work on zero to close to zero margins, maybe 2 or 3 percent. Golyan Agro aims to invest in agriculture for the future and to partner with local farmers, local products, and local entrepreneurs to promote Nepali products. Food items or non-food items like tissue paper and sanitizers, everything is made in Nepal. My family's way of thinking is a little different than other families. We like to do things differently. We like to do things that can add value to the people around us. We saw a gap in terms of our food items which have always been imported and way back during the import restriction, there was a shortage of necessities like gas, petrol, and food. Then we decided that we need to contribute towards the growth of Nepali products, produce and agriculture. Your group has also made sizable investments in the energy sector. What are your plans for the future in this sector?  Currently, we have planned to produce around 800 MW from hydro and solar power projects. 800 MW of electricity is a very big portfolio. The only way we can execute this is if the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) signs the power purchase agreement (PPA). Currently, we have signed PPAs with NEA for around 200 MW. And, these projects are either in the construction stage or already started generating power. But, there are other projects in our portfolio with a total capacity of 600 MW; the construction of these projects is yet to be started. Our group has already invested close to Rs 1 billion in these projects without signing the PPAs. Nepal needs more electricity for its industries. Therefore, signing the PPA by NEA is crucial for us. Out of these four verticals, which one do you find most challenging?  All of them have a different set of challenges. Renewable energy is facing challenges due to the changes in the policies of the government. As for the manufacturing sector, the challenge lies in the operations of companies. The agriculture sector has challenges, both in terms of policies and operations. The hotel sector is slowly recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenge here is to attract more tourists to the country. As a young entrepreneur, what are your advices for startups and new entrepreneurs?  Whenever you want to start a business, you should first decide to do something that you enjoy. No matter how profitable it looks on paper, you should first be interested in it. Then you should look if it's reliable and observe others what they have done and how they are doing it. A little bit of homework and hard work comes a long way. What are the Roots of Nepal and the Feri Bidesh campaigns of the Golyan Group? The Roots of Nepal is a basic idea of what we have been doing for ages. From our history, we have always been told that the Golyan Group is working on energy itself, tourism, hospitality, and agriculture as the base and ultimately the roots of Nepal in the future. So currently, we are trying to focus more on those aspects which is the idea of the Roots of Nepal campaign. Feri Bidesh is just at the initial phase of the Golyan Group where we are trying to focus on the youths of Nepal. Brain drain has been a major issue in Nepal for a long time and we want to share this message with the youth that there are opportunities within the country and new opportunities are also coming.

Lumbini Province Chief Minister Leela Giri is scheduled to take a vote of confidence on Thursday. CM Giri is to take the vote of confidence at the Province Assembly meeting at 1 pm today. He was appointed the Chief Minister on January 11 with the support of 58 Province Assembly members. CM Giri had received support from 29 members of the CPN-UML, 10 of the Maoist Centre, four each of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party, three each of JSP, Janamat Party and LSP and two independent province assembly members. It requires 44 votes to secure a majority in the 87-member Province Assembly.

A herd of wild tuskers have been unleashing terror in Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City and Barahachhetra Municipality of Sunsari district. A person died after being attacked by around two dozen wild elephants that came from India. The deceased has been identified as Dhan Bahadur Majhi (65) of Barahachhetra Municipality-5. DSP Raj Kumar Rai, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Sunsari, said that the wild beasts also destroyed dozens of houses. Ward Chairman Manoj Bhattarai said that the wild tuskers have been terrorizing people in Dharan-17 for quite some time. He said that the elephants have destroyed property worth millions of rupees in Dharan-17 so far. Locals Tirtha Sigdel said that the herd of wild tuskers have been unleashing terror by entering human settlements in Dharan, Chatara, Nadaha, Chakrighatti and Bayarban among other places of Sunsari. He said that the elephants can cause a massive loss of lives and properties if they are not controlled on time. Barahachhetra Municipality Mayor Ramesh Karki said that security personnel have been deployed to take the wild tuskers under control.  

With China reopening outbound travel for Chinese Citizens from the second week of January, Himalaya Airlines has resumed its Kathmandu-Beijing direct flight after a hiatus of 32 months. The Kathmandu-Beijing flight was suspended in March 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe. Himalaya's Airbus 319 departed from Tribhuwan International Airport on Tuesday to Beijing Daxing International Airport. According to the airliner, Tuesday's flight is a reoperation flight and the regular flights will begin in February. The resumption of direct flights between Kathmandu and Beijing is expected to help increase the frequency Chinese tourist arrivals in Nepal this year. The airlines in October 2019 had started the Kathmandu-Beijing flight, making it the first-ever direct commercial flight between Kathmandu and Beijing, the capital cities of Nepal and China, respectively. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the airlines to discontinue the route in March 2020. According to Vijay Shrestha, Vice President of Himalaya Airlines, the reoperation flight took place on Tuesday, the regular flight will be Kathmandu-Beijing-Kathmandu every Saturday from February. "We will fly Airbus 319 aircraft with a capacity of 144 passengers on this route," said Shrestha. Established in 2014, Himalaya Airlines is a Sino-Nepal joint venture formed after an agreement between Tibet Aviation Development & Investment Company Ltd. (TADIC) and Yeti World Investment Pvt. Ltd. Travel trade entrepreneurs express their hope that the resumption of direct flights between Kathmandu and Beijing will contribute significantly to the growth of Chinese visitors in Nepal. "It is the most positive development for Nepali tourism," said Bishwesh Shrestha, owner of C&K Travels which specializes in Chinese tourists, "As soon as volume increases, we expect Himalaya Airlines to increase the frequency of flights also." Nepali tour operators say they are hopeful of a huge surge in Chinese tourist arrivals in Nepal in 2023. With the normalization of flights with China, Nepal can expect at least 100,000 Chinese tourists in 2023, they said. Tour operators specializing in Chinese tourists say they are getting a lot of inquiries from the northern neighbor currently. "In fact, FITs (free independent travelers) have already started coming to Nepal," said Shrestha. In 2022, tourist arrivals reached over 600,000 without any significant contribution from China, which was the second-largest tourist source market for Nepal prior to the pandemic. Most of the flights from China to Nepal have remained suspended after the northern neighbor suspended outbound tourism since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic-related travel restrictions began in early 2020 in Nepal and across the world, China was the second largest source market for Nepal after India as the country welcomed 169,543 tourists from the northern neighbor. Nepali Ambassador to China Bishnu Pukar Shrestha has also said that the resumption of the Kathmandu-Beijing flight will help tourism promotion and people-to-people contacts in both countries. In an exclusive interview with China's Global Times, Shrestha said, "There is an increase in the visa applications by Chinese people, he said. With China reopening its borders this year, it is hopeful that more Chinese people will visit Nepal and will enjoy the natural heritages of Nepal."

Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges in the country dropped significantly during the first half of the current fiscal year. As per the latest statistics of the Department of Industry (DoI), FDI commitments dropped by 43.27 percent in the first six months of FY 2022/23. FDI commitments totaled Rs 17.30 billion in the review period compared to Rs 30.50 billion in the corresponding period of FY 2021/22. In the first six months of the current fiscal year, a total of 131 industries having FDI pledges have been registered at the department. Of them, two are large-scale industries, 19 medium-scale, and 110 small enterprises. Government officials point out the global economic downturn and the tightening of visa rules for foreign investors by the Nepal government for the decline in FDI pledges. Ram Chandra Tiwari, Director General of DoI said the slowing of the global economy is the main reason behind the disinterest of foreign investors. “Not only in Nepal, but FDI flow has also decreased globally because the energy crisis and supply chain disruptions have worsened the investment climate,” he said. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development recently reported that global FDI flows dropped by almost a third in the second quarter of 2022, with the investment flows to several emerging regions down significantly and flows to Africa near zero. FDI flow to Nepal declined this fiscal mainly due to a slowdown in investment commitment from China. The investors from the northern neighbor have been committing the largest amount of FDI in the last several years to Nepal. With China facing economic problems due to renewed Covid-19 crisis, and supply chain disruptions, investment pledges from the northern neighbor are also affected. “With the largest investor in economic trouble, it is natural that FDI pledges from that country come down,” said Tiwari. The tighter visa rules that the government enforced in early November 2022 discourage applicants from submitting fake documents to get business visas. DoI decided to recommend business visas for foreign investors only for three months at a time to prevent the misuse of the facility. Officials said that the move was taken to discourage the tendency of prolonging their stay in Nepal by taking concrete steps to invest in Nepal. As per the new rules, the department now recommends a business visa for three months by which time the investor has to submit a certificate of company registration. After the registration certificate has been received, DoI will recommend an extension of the business visa for another three months. Within this period, the investor needs to submit proof of having registered at the tax office and opened a bank account. According to DoI officials, the new provision has contributed to screening genuine foreign investors from fake ones and it has been reflected in reduced FDI comments. Nepal is one of the countries that receive the lowest FDI in the world. Despite many talks on attracting FDI in the country, the country has failed to attract foreign investors as expected. In November last year, the government lowered the minimum threshold for FDI to Rs 20 million from Rs 50 million to attract even the small foreign investors in the country. “The threshold was reduced as per the suggestions of stakeholders,” said Tiwari. “The decision is expected to encourage FDI in the information and communication sector which does not need big investments in physical infrastructure.”

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expanded the Cabinet on Tuesday, inducting 12 more ministers and three state ministers into his 8-member team, three weeks after assuming office.  The newly-appointed ministers from CPN-UML, CPN-Maoist Center, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RSP) took the oath of office and secrecy at the President’s Office. The government can now ‘boast of’ four deputy prime ministers—Bishnu Poudel from CPN-UML, Narayan Kaji Shrestha from the Maoist party, Rabi Lamichhane from RSP and Rajendra Lingden from RPP. Here is the short bio of the ministers and state ministers: Rajendra Lingden, DPM and Minister for Energy and Water Resources Lingden, chair of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, was elected to the House of Representatives in Nov 20 elections from Jhapa constituency-3. Lingden has been with the RPP throughout his political journey.  Rekha Sharma, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Sharma from the Maoist party got elected from Dang-2, succeeding Krishna Bahadur Mahara in the constituency. She had started political career as a college student leader. In the Nov 20 elections, she garnered 26,880 votes, leaving behind her closest contestant, CPN-UML leader Shankar Pokharel.   Aman Lal Modi, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration A Maoist leader now in his late 30’s, Modi has become a Member of Parliament twice. He started his political career from school life and remained much active in student politics during college days at the Mahendra Morang Campus. Modi got elected from Morang-4 in the Nov 20 elections. Sudan Kirati, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation [caption id="attachment_37198" align="alignnone" width="1024"] sudan kirati[/caption] Kirati joined politics by taking part in the 1990’s revolution. He has served as central member of the Kirati Rastriya Morcha, chair of the Maoist Center’s Bhojpur district chapter and central member of the Nepal Communist Party formed after the merger of the UML and the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led Maoist party. This is Kirati’s second tenure as MP. This time, he got elected from Bhojpur-1 with 28,558 votes.  Sushila Sirpali, Minister of State for Physical Infrastructure Sirpali has served as a member of the National Dalit Commission. She is the only Dalit candidate in the cabinet. Bimala Rai Paudyal, Minister for Foreign Affairs Bimala Rai Paudyal is a Member of the National Assembly of the House of Representatives. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies, the Hague; an MA in Economics and Management of Rural Development and Post-Graduate Diploma in Development Administration from the Manchester University (UK); and a BSc in Agriculture Economics from the Tribhuvan University. Paudyal has also served as a member of the National Planning Commission.  Padam Giri, Minister for Health and Population Giri, a communist politician, started his political career from the grassroots and became a member of the student union, Prithvi Narayan Campus. He has obtained a Master's degree in Sociology and also served as a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Law, Justice and Human Rights. He was a Gandaki Province Committee member of the Nepal Communist Party in 2018. Giri won the Nov 20 elections from Parvat-1.  Bhagwati Chaudhary, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Bhagwati Chaudhary entered politics after getting CPN-UML membership 31 years ago. A Sunsari district committee member of the party, she later became zonal committee member of the party. She became a central committee member of the party and served as state minister for forests for about six months in 2011. Chaudhary got elected from Sundari-3.  Hari Upreti, Minister for Defense Hari Prasad Upreti won the elections from Sarlahi-3. Having been in politics since his college days, Upreti got membership of the party and entered active politics in 1989. He was also elected in the second parliamentary elections and has also worked as a member of the environmental committee in the parliament. Bikram Pandey, Minister for Urban Development Bikram Pandey won the Nov 20 elections from Chitwan-3. He started his political career from Chitwan, as an RPP activist. Pandey is now the central vice-president of the party. Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, Minister for Law Dhurba Bahadur Pradhan represents the RPP. He won the election for the HoR from Nawalparasi-2, defeating Congress candidate Devendra Raj Kandel by a margin of 19,595 votes. Deepak Bahadur Singh, Minister of State for Energy Deepak Bahadur Singh defeated Kamal Thapa in his Makwanpur-1 constituency in the Nov 20 elections. Singh, born in Dhankuta, started his political career at the age of 24 and went on to become a mayor of Hetauda before becoming a lawmaker. Singh is also an entrepreneur. Sishir Khanal, Minister for Education Shisir Khanal, Co-Founder of Teach for Nepal, served as the Board Chair of TFN from 2019-2020. He is also the co-founder of Pick n Drop logistics services. Khanal served as the CEO of Teach for Nepal from 2012-2019. Khanal obtained his Master’s degree in International Public Affairs (MIPA) from the La Follette School of Public Affairs in 2005 and has a bachelor’s degree in International Political Economy from the University of Bridgeport. He was also an Education Advisor to the Tulsipur Su-Metropolitan City, Dang. He was elected from Kathmandu-6.  Dol Prasad Aryal, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Dol Prasad Aryal is vice-chairman of RSP. He was elected as a lawmaker under the proportional representation system, representing the Khas people. Toshima Karki, Minister of State for Health A surgeon by profession, Toshima Karki was elected to the HoR from Lalitpur-3 as an RSP candidate. She was also a member of the Medical Council. 

Ishwori Neupane registered her nomination for the post of Speaker from the Nepali Congress on Wednesday. She filed her candidacy after reaching the New Baneshwor-based Parliament building this afternoon. Congress General Secretary Bishwo Prakash Sharma proposed her candidacy while CPN (Unified Socialist) Chief Whip Prakash Jawala seconded the proposal. An office bearers meeting held today decided to make Neupane as the candidate of Speaker. Earlier, Dev Raj Ghimire of the CPN-UML had filed his nomination for the post of Speaker from the ruling coalition.