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Two hundred and thirty-six hatcheries have closed down in the country after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Nepal Poultry Federation.

The industries have been closed after the hatched chicks did not fetch even the production price after the pandemic.

According to Tikaram Pokhrel, vice-president of the Federation, there were 348 hatchery industries operating across the country before Covid-19. Now the number has come down to 120. Similarly, layer hatcheries have been reduced from 14 to six.

Pokhrel said 5.5 million broiler chicks used to be produced in a week by the hatcheries before and it has decreased to 3 million. Likewise, the production of layer chicks has decreased from 250, 000 per week to 130, 000.

According to Pokharel, the production cost of broiler chicks ranges from Rs 55 to Rs 60 per chick while that of layer chick ranges from Rs 120 to 125.

Rajendra Lamichhane, central senior vice-president of Nepal Hatchery Industry Association, said the hatcheries have been closed as they even did not get the production cost for the chicks for two years after Covid-19.

After a long time, the price of broiler chicks has now reached Rs 70 to Rs 75 per chick while the price of layer chicks is in the range of Rs 130 to Rs 150.

"Most of the hatcheries were shut down as the chicks did not fetch even the production cost for a long time and even those industries which were running have also done so with additional loans from banks," he said.

Hatchery industries and poultry farmers have been displaced from their business due to the hatched chicks not fetching the production cost, increase in prices of poultry feed and medicines, higher bank interest rates, low price of meat, displacement of poultry farmers and illegal entry of chicks from the Indian market.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has urged its subsidiary Chilime Hydropower Limited to complete the construction of the Madhya Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project and the Khimti-Bahrabise transmission line in Sindhupalchowk within a month.

During the testing of the structure and equipment to start electricity generation from the completed Madhya Bhotekoshi, the tunnel leaked while pouring water and currently it is being repaired for improvement of the tunnel and to stop it from leaking. 

As 40 MW of electricity has been generated from the Madhya Bhotekoshi with an installed capacity of 102 MW during the winter months it is regarded as a great importance for managing electricity supply as per the demand of the winter months, the NEA management has taken the initiative and urged to bring Madhya Bhotekoshi into operation as soon as possible.

A team comprising Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of the NEA, and Subhash Kumar Mishra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Chilime Hydropower Company and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Madhya Bhotekoshi Hydropower Company, have conducted a monitoring visit to the transmission line and substation and taken information about the construction progress.

The construction of the 400 kV transmission line from the new Khimti substation in Ramechhap to Bahrabise in Sindhupalchowk under the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu kV transmission line project, which will transmit electricity generated from the Madhya Bhotekoshi Hydropower Project, is in the final stage. All the towers in the Khimti-Bahrabise section under the transmission line project have been erected. Only about one kilometer of wire remains to be laid.

The 400 kV new Khimti-Bahrabise transmission line will be brought into operation at 200 kV immediately and the electricity of Madhya Bhotekoshi will be incorporated into the national transmission grid. The process of installing the necessary infrastructure at the new Khimti and Bahrabise substations to charge the line at 200 kV has already progressed.

The team led by Executive Director Ghising has discussed the ongoing work at the new Khimti and Bahrabise substations to charge the Khimti-Bahrabise line at 200 kV and instructed the project management and construction entrepreneurs to immediately proceed with the remaining work. The team also inspected the ongoing wire pulling work at the Tripurasundari Rural Municipality-2 intersection in Sindhupalchok under the transmission line.

Stating that the construction of both projects was sensitive and essential, Ghising personally came to the field to monitor the construction, he also directed to take the construction seriously and coordinate the remaining work expeditiously. A four-kilometer 220 kV transmission line connecting the powerhouse of the Madhya Bhotekoshi project in Bahrabise Municipality-5 to the NEA’s Bahrabise substation in the same municipality-3 has been constructed.

The Tamakoshi-Kathmandu transmission line has been constructed to supply electricity to the existing and future hydroelectric projects on the Tamakoshi and Sunkoshi rivers and their tributaries. Out of the 122 towers on the Bahrabise-Lapsiphedi line section, only two are yet to be constructed.

The policy reforms initiated by the government through different ordinances seem to have started delivering results. Nepal received the highest foreign investment commitment so far in the fiscal year 2024-25 in the eighth month i.e., mid-February to mid-March.

According to the Department of Industry, it provided approvals for foreign investment worth Rs 17.79bn for 40 projects during the review month. The monthly report of foreign investment approval shows 19 applications for foreign direct investment came through the automatic route, while 21 came through the traditional route. These projects will create 833 new jobs. With this, the total investment commitments received over the eight months of the current fiscal year have reached Rs 44.66bn for 427 projects.

In the previous month, Nepal received foreign investment commitments worth Rs 1.06bn for 32 projects. The government introduced ordinances in the second week of January to amend several laws to improve the business environment in the country. A study conducted by the department has revealed that policy shortcomings are the main reason for low FDI inflows. The study found that several policy and practical challenges were affecting the implementation of the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, 2018. The government has tried to address some of them through the ordinances.

Several acts like the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act (1962), Company Act (2006), Special Economic Zone Act (2016), Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act (2019), Public Private Partnership and Investment Act (2019), Industrial Enterprise Act (2020) and Arbitration Act (1999) have been amended through the ordinances. The ordinances have been approved by both chambers of the Parliament, and replacement bills are being introduced.

Of the total foreign investment commitments received in mid-February to mid-March, 39 are for small industries, and one is for medium-scale industries. The growing increase in FDI toward small industries can be attributed to the government’s decision to lower the minimum foreign investment threshold to Rs 20m.

According to the report, 50 percent of the total committed amount received so far in 2023-24 is in the service sector, followed by tourism (40 percent), manufacturing (six percent), ICT (2 percent), and agriculture (two percent). In terms of the number of industries, 180 are in the tourism sector (42 percent), 154 in the ICT sector (36 percent), 54 in the service sector (13 percent), 50 in manufacturing (seven percent), seven in the agriculture sector (two percent) and one each in the energy and infrastructure sector.

However, there is a significant gap between FDI commitments and actual realization with only a fraction of pledged amount flowing into the country. In 2023-24, only 13.59 percent of the pledged Rs 61.78bn, amounting to Rs 8.4bn, translated into actual FDI inflows whereas in 2022-23, just Rs 6.17bn out of the Rs 38.4bn in approved foreign investments materialized as actual investments. In 2021-22, Rs 18.56bn out of the Rs 54.15bn in commitments flowed into the country as actual investments.

Gold price has set a new record in the domestic market on Tuesday.

According to the Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the price of precious yellow metal has increased by Rs 1, 100 per tola and is being traded at Rs 175, 200 per tola. It was traded at Rs 174, 100 per tola on Monday.

Likewise, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 2, 050 per tola.