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The Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA)  is preparing to take action against life and non-life insurance companies that fail to meet the new paid-up capital requirement by mid-April 2023. With only two months left for the insurance companies to meet the new paid-up capital requirement as directed by the NIA, the majority of companies are yet to raise their paid-up capital. NIA is pushing for a consolidation drive in the insurance sector by increasing the minimum paid-up capital requirements for both life and non-life insurance companies. As per the arrangements implemented a year ago, non-life insurance companies are required to have Rs 2 billion in paid-up capital, while it is Rs 5 billion for life insurance companies. NIA officials say they are working on the action that will be taken against insurance companies failing to meet the capital requirement. A senior official of NIA said that insurance companies could be barred from doing business with any 'insurance product' (insurance plan). As per the deadline, insurance companies have to meet the prescribed paid-up capital by mid-April. "Given the progress we have seen so far, it seems most of the companies will not meet the paid-up capital requirement within the deadline," said the NIA official. "The authority will extend the deadline.  But at the same time, we will also exert pressure on the insurers to meet the capital requirement by barring them from selling one of the insurance products." Among the insurance companies, Nepal Life Insurance, National Life Insurance, Neco Insurance, and Shikhar Insurance have already met the capital requirement set by the NIA. With NIA pushing for capital increment, insurance companies have adopted two approaches to increase their paid-up capital. The majority of insurance companies have opted for mergers while some are into right share issuance to raise capital. A series of merger agreements have been signed in the last 12 months. Of the 19 insurance companies involved in the merger process, six companies have merged to become three and have started their integrated business while 13 others are still in the process of completing their merger process. There have been two successful mergers in the non-life insurance sector in the past year. In July 2022, Himalayan General Insurance and Everest Insurance merged to form Himalayan Everest Insurance Insurance Co. Ltd. Similarly, in October, Sanima General Insurance and General Insurance Company merged to form Sanima GIC Insurance Ltd. The first merger among the life insurance companies took place in the last week of December 2022 when two life insurance companies - Surya Life Insurance and Jyoti Life Insurance - completed their merger process and started integrated business as Suryajyoti Life Insurance Company. NIA said even if companies that have signed merger agreements, it would take months for them to start their integrated business. And, the paid-up capital of those companies who have planned to start the integrated business by mid-April will not reach as prescribed by the NIA. Such companies are planning to increase paid-up capital through the issuance of bonus shares which will take months. While some other companies are planning to increase the paid-up capital through rights share issuance, they are yet to start the process. The whole process will take months as they have to follow a series of procedures before the issuance of the right shares. As of now, four life insurance companies are planning to increase their paid-up capital by issuing the right shares.  Citizen Life Insurance, Sun Nepal Life Insurance, IME Life Insurance, and Reliable Life Insurance have submitted plans to the NIA to increase their capital through right share issuance. However, there is still confusion about increasing the paid-up capital of government-owned insurance companies. The paid-up capital of the Rastriya Beema Sansthan and Rastriya Beema Company is much less than the prescribed limit. Both companies have not forwarded their capital increment plant to NIA.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 600 per tola in the domestic market on Thursday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 103, 000 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 104, 600 per tola on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 102, 500 per tola. It was traded at Rs 103, 100. Similarly, the price of silver has dropped by Rs 5 and is being traded at Rs 1,285 per tola today.

With no winter rainfall for the last five months and water levels decreasing in rivers, the power generation in the country has fallen by more than 40 percent. While around 400 MW of electricity has been added to the national grid in the last one year, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been struggling to supply adequate electricity this winter. The installed capacity of electricity in the country last winter was 2053 MW which increased to 2424 MW by mid-January this year. "However, due to the prolonged dry season and decrease in water level in the rivers, electricity generation has plunged more than last winter," said Suresh Bhattarai, a spokesperson of NEA. According to NEA, the power production during this winter has dropped to around 900 MW, that too during the evening peak time. NEA data shows domestic electricity generation was 926 MW during the peak hours on Sunday. As hydropower projects such as Kulekhani, Upper Tamakoshi, and Kaligandaki are put into operation during peak hours, the electricity generation is higher during those times. The average generation currently stands at around 700 MW, according to NEA. "The installed capacity has increased this year but the water flow in the river has decreased as the dry season has extended," said Bhattarai. "As a result, power generation has decreased compared to last year." According to the NEA, power generation, this winter has decreased more compared to the last winter because of the drought situation. The power generation during the last winter was around 1,200 MW, which has further dropped to around 900 MW this winter during the peak time. Nepal's largest power project- the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (456 MW), is currently producing around 77MW of electricity while the average production of the Middle Marsyangdi Hydropower Project (70 MW) is above 30 MW. According to Bhattarai, NEA is balancing the power supply by importing more electricity from India. Despite that, NEA is forced to cut power in the industrial areas during peak hours in the morning and evening. NEA has been enforcing load shedding of three hours each in the peak hours of morning and evening in the industrial areas across the country. According to industrialists, such power cuts have been happening now from 6-9 am in the morning and 5-8 pm in the evening. Industries in major industrial hubs such as Biratnagar, Birgunj, Hetauda, and Bhairahawa have been hard hit by the latest power cuts. Although Nepal has started exporting surplus electricity to India during the wet season, the country has to import electricity in the dry season to meet the power demand. 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 as water levels in the rivers decrease significantly during the dry season. With power generation not enough to cater to the domestic demand, the NEA has increased the volume of electricity imports from India. A total of 505 MW of electricity was imported from India during peak hours last Sunday evening.  

Farmers in rural areas of Kaski are struggling to sell their tomato crop this year as the wholesale market has refused to purchase them. Wholesalers have refused to buy from local farmers saying that tomatoes imported from India are much cheaper. With market prices significantly lower than in previous years, farmers are concerned about recovering their farming expenses. As a result, they are forced to frequently lower their prices to compete with imported tomatoes, leading to further financial strain. The price of local tomatoes has dropped, thanks to unchecked import and sale of  tomatoes at much lower rates, causing distress for farmers like Chitra Nath Poudel of Hemja, Pokhara-25. Despite about 20 years of experience in the trade and an annual average income of Rs 5 million from 90 tomato tunnels, Poudel is facing a new challenge this year—selling his crop at an unprecedentedly low rate. Poudel's income has almost halved this year. In particular, the plummeting prices have the new farmers discouraged. It’s not only the farmers getting hit, though. Collection centers have also suffered from falling tomato prices. A few days ago, Bhumikot Agriculture Cooperative of Rupa Rural Municipality-7 canceled the supply agreement with two wholesale markets of Pokhara, which used to buy almost six tons of tomato from the cooperative annually. “This year, they purchased from other sources at half the price,” Nawaraj Poudel, a farmer from Rupa-7  and chairperson of the cooperative, said. In an attempt to recoup the expenses, Poudel has found an individual, Chudamani Baral of Khudi in Pokhara-30, who has agreed to sell all the collected tomatoes door-to-door. Baral is using a cart to sell the tomatoes locally. Gita Kumari Sapkota of Madi Rural Municipality in Kaski, who has been farming tomatoes for almost a decade, is also facing difficulties in selling her produce due to reduced market prices. A local collector, who used to buy 500 kg of tomatoes from her daily, has stopped coming, leaving her unsure of how and when to sell huge quantities of tomatoes. Sapkota earns around Rs 200,000 annually from tomatoes grown in three tunnels. Amid rapid urbanization in Pokhara, tomato farming expanded in surrounding rural areas due to a business-friendly environment, according to the Agriculture Section of the Pokhara Metropolitan Office. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people returned to their villages and turned to farming, with a particular interest in tomato farming, according to Manoj Poudel, Chief of the Agriculture Section of Rupa Rural Municipality in Kaski. He noted that the registration of farming groups and agriculture farms in the rural municipality office has been increasing in recent years. The local government bodies are now facing the challenge of sustaining the motivation of local farmers. To address this, some local bodies have made arrangements to compensate the farmers when exported products push local product prices downward. However, according to Manohar Kadariya, Chief of the Agriculture Section of the Pokhara Metropolitan Office, no individual or farm has claimed this facility yet.