Coal shortage forces Hetauda Cement Industries to shut operation

KATHMANDU: State-owned Hetauda Cement Industries Ltd has stopped production due to a lack of coal.

The company, however, has begun tendering process for coal supply. It has sent a plant to import 10,000 tons of coal in the first and second in two phases from countries like India, Indonesia, Bhutan, and Pakistan.

Nabin Karna, deputy general manager of Hetauda Cement Industries Ltd,  told RSS news agency that the management is currently making necessary arrangements for coal imports. He added that the production is expected to resume within a week.

The announcement is good news for the workers as the industry had to be closed for a long time before resuming operations three months ago.

The company has not been able to produce cement at an installed capacity of 750 tons per day due to mechanical issues and a lack of human resources. The industry, which was established in 2033 BS with the support of the Asian Development Bank, has been operating at a loss for the past four years.

With the resumption of cement production, the company hopes to turn its fortunes and become profitable once again.

Hetauda Cement Industries is one of the three state-owned cement producers in Nepal. While Himal Cement located in Chobhar of Kathmandu shut operations in 2002, the other one, Udayapur Cement Industries, is also failing to operate as per its installed capacity of 900 tons per day.