Kathmandu, March 4:

Businessmen and entrepreneurs have asked the government to form a taskforce to recommend measures to minimise the negative impact of long hours of load shedding on industrial activities.

To this effect, a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) led by its second vice-president Kush Kumar Joshi today met with Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, minister of state for water resources and apprised him about losses incurred due to long hours of load shedding.

They asked the government to set up a taskforce comprising of representatives from the government, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and FNCCI to recommend measures to minimise the negative impact of the power cut.

FNCCI has revealed that the current seven hours of daily power cut could result in reduction of industrial production by 25 to 40 per cent, while about 40 per cent of the industries have to remain shut down. “It will not only cause a loss of billions of rupees in investment but also discourage new investment,” said Joshi.

FNCCI has also drawn the attention of the government for possible labour unrest because most industries, which are compelled to run at under-capacity, are laying-off their employees. “Industries are utilising less than 60 per cent of their capacity. Under such circumstance, how can they hold all employees?” states a FNCCI release.

Joshi also suggested that the current power leakage of 25 per cent must be addressed and the private sector should be encouraged in investing on hydropower or thermal plant development. He further added that the government should take an initiative to set up a thermal plant with a capacity of 50 to 60 mega watt in order to maintain regular supply of power in Hetauda-Birgunj industrial corridor.