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.