The 48-hour a week load shedding has decreased the industrial production by an estimated 30 percent and would further worsen if the government did not take immediate measures to improve the situation.

A team of industrialists who met with government ministers Wednesday and informed them about the crippling effect of load shedding on industrial production. They also submitted a report that suggests ways to deal with the situation.

The industrialists met Minister for Water Resources Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and State Minister Dina Updhyaya and conveyed their concern over the load shedding, as well as the delay in reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during the insurgency.

Chandi Raj Dhakal
The team led by Chandi Raj Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), told the ministers that long hours of load shedding have weakened the prospects of continuing industrial activities, expanding commercial activities, establishing new enterprises and providing employment to the growing population.

The industrialists also submitted a memo to the ministers, seeking immediate measures to stop the flow of capital to foreign countries and the increasing trend of industries being displaced from the place of their present operation.

Dhakal also sought the government’s assistance to find alternatives of load shedding, a press statement issued by the FNCCI said. nepalnews.com ia Feb 06 08