CNI urges govt to annul hike in rental charges of land inside industrial estates

Kathmandu / Aug. 2: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to annul the decision to raise the rental charge of lands inside the industrial estates.

In a meeting with Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu on Tuesday, the entrepreneurs urged the government authorities to come up with a long term solution to address the problem related to rental charge of land inside the industrial estates. The umbrella organization of the private sector, in its press release, stated that the move will discourage private sector investment in production businesses.

The Industrial District Management Limited (IDML) increased the land rent charge by up to 687 percent that was put into effect from July 17, 2018. After the protest from industrialists, the then Industry Minister Matrika Yadav had asked the IDML not to implement the decision.

However, the IDML’s meeting held on July 6 decided to recover all the rental charges at the new rates from the firms collectively of the past four years. The CNI also raised its concerns over the IDML collecting electricity demand charges and water supply charges at unfair rates from the firms operating inside the industrial estates.

There are 10 industrial estates across the country. These industrial zones house 700 factories.

In the revised rates, the IDML has increased the rental charge of land inside the Balaju Industrial Zone from Rs 12,520 to Rs 81,000 per ropani per year. Similarly, the rental charges inside the industrial estates of Patan and Bhaktapur have been increased from Rs 8,300 to Rs 64,800 per ropani.

The rate in the industrial zone of Pokhara has been increased from Rs 6,300 to Rs 54,000 per ropani per year. Likewise, the rates in Dharan, Butwal and Nepalgunj have been raised from Rs 6,300 to Rs 16,200 per ropani per year. The rental charges in Rajbiraj and Surkhet have been doubled to Rs 10,000 per ropani per year.