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A total of 476, 000 foreign tourists visited Nepal in the six months (January to June) of the current fiscal year 2022/23, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. The total number of visiting tourists in 2019 from January to June was 536,058. The number was a 97.79 percent surge than that in 2022 during the same period, and 16.93 percent decrease than that in 2019. However, in the following years, the tourism industry was marred by COVID-19 that broke out in 2019, with the number of visiting tourists decreasing. During the same period, the influx of visiting tourists dropped to 220,815 in 2020, 58,058 in 2021, and 240,901 in 2022.

When Investment Board Nepal (IBN) in March 2022, approved the investment proposal of Suryatara Cement Industry for setting up a cement factory in Surkhet, it was supposed to be the first cement plant in Karnali Province. However, even after 15 months of approval, Suryatara Cement has not shown any signs of going ahead with a Rs 14.27bn project. A few months ago, there was also a plan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the company and the IBN. However, the IBN officials said the company has not come in contact with the board. It has been almost 15 months since the investment was approved. However, the industry has not come in contact, said a senior official at the IBN. The company on 31 March 2022, had received approval for investing Rs 14.27bn from the IBN. According to the IBN, after signing a MoU, the IBN, and Suryatara will have to sign the project implementation agreement. For this purpose, the company has to complete the financial closure. As per the rules, the company is required to sign the project implementation agreement with the board within two years of the approval of the investment. After selling stakes in Samrat Cement to Binod Chaudhary, Mukunda Timilsina, the main promoter of Suryatara Cement, planned for establishing a cement plant in Panchpuri Municipality of Surkhet, which was going to be the single largest investment in industry in Karnali Province. The company has aimed to bring the plant into operation within two years of starting the construction of infrastructure. Promoter Timilsina acknowledged that they are not in contact with the board. “Since the government did not guarantee the access road and electricity supply to the project site, we have not taken the project ahead,” said Timilsina. According to Timilsina, the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had promised to provide electricity and an access road for the project. “That commitment has not been honored by the government,” he said. It has been estimated that about 20 MW of electricity will be required to run the plant; for which a 26-kilometer-long 132 KV transmission line needs to be built from Lamki Chuha in Kailali. Suryatara received approval for investment from IBN to operate a cement plant in Surkhet as a domestic investment. According to the company, Nepali banks have already committed to invest in the project and loans will be sought at the ratio of 80 percent of the total investment. The production capacity of the proposed cement plant has been estimated at 3,000 tons (60,000 sacks) daily. The company has planned to supply the cement to districts in Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces. Suryatara has already purchased nearly 40 bighas of land to set up the cement plant. Similarly, it has been confirmed that limestone will be brought to Barahtal of Surkhet for the processing of the raw material.

At a time when domestic demand is falling due to the economic recession, the surge in cement and clinker exports to India has given some respite to domestic cement manufacturers. As the country’s construction sector goes through a slump due to economic slowdown, the production and consumption of cement and clinker have been badly affected in the current fiscal year. The growth in cement exports to the southern neighbor, according to cement manufacturers, has been a saving grace for them. While Nepal has also been exporting cement to its southern neighbor since the last fiscal year, the exports have picked up in this fiscal year. The government announcement of providing an eight percent export subsidy on eight products including cement has helped the exports to grow in the current fiscal year. The latest data from the Department of Customs shows Nepal has exported cement and clinker worth Rs 677.65m in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year, an increment of 120 percent. The country had exported cement and clinker worth Rs 307.03m in the first 11 months of the last fiscal year. Of the total exports in FY 2022/23, Portland cement was Rs 313.64m, and clinker was Rs 364.01m. In FY 2021/22, Nepal exported Portland cement worth Rs 135.09m and clinker worth Rs 171.52m. Industrialist Pashupati Murarka said that the surge in cement exports in the current economic slowdown has given some relief to domestic cement industries. “The domestic market has been hard hit by the falling demand for construction materials this year. The export growth has provided us a breathing space,” said Murarka. The government in the current fiscal year budget had announced cash incentives of up to eight percent for products like clinker, cement, steel, footwear, and processed water along with IT-related services and BPO business. Following the government announcement, Nepali cement industries started to export to India. Currently, four cement companies—Ghorahi, Balaji, Tansen, and Arghakanchi - have been exporting their products to their southern neighbor. It was Tansen Cement that officially started exporting cement to India for the first time from Nepal. The company began exporting on 8 July 2022. According to Murarka, the demand for Nepali cement is increasing especially in the bordering Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The main raw material for producing cement is limestone which is not available in the bordering Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttarakhand. Limestone has to be brought from other states such as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh which are far away from states in India bordering Nepal. “Hence, the export of cement makes sense as the transportation cost to India can be economical,” said Murarka. Balaji Cement Industries Pvt Ltd is the latest Nepali cement manufacturer that has started exporting its products to India. After receiving the ISI quality mark from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) of the Indian government, Balaji Cement started exporting two of its brands—Bahubali and Shrishti—to India from 12 June 2023. “We had established the industry with an objective of export to India,” said Sandeep Kumar Gadia of Balaji Cement. “The government export subsidy scheme helped us to realize our goal.” As cement exports increase, the country has seen a decline in imports of cement and clinker. The import of cement and clinker has decreased by 55 percent in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year. Nepal has imported cement and clinker worth Rs 288.46m in this fiscal compared to Rs 652.61m in the last fiscal.

The price of gold has increased by Rs 500 per tola in the domestic market on Sunday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 110, 100 per tola today. It was traded at Rs 109, 600 per tola on Friday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109, 550 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 100 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,370 per tola today.