Biz briefs

Pay bills through NCCB

KATHMANDU:

Customers of Nepal Credit and Commercial Bank (NCCB) can now pay their telephone bills through their account in the bank. Mukunda Karmacharya, managing director at NCCB and Surendra Pradhananga, deputy-managing director at Nepal Telecom signed an agreement recently. NCCB has also introduced debit card, which can be used at SmartChoice Technology (SCT) networks. — HNS

ANROPI flays VAT hike

KATHMANDU:

Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses Industry (ANROPI) has refuted the government’s recent move to hike value added tax (VAT) rate by 30 per cent, saying it would hurt the national economy and agro-based industry. Issuing a press release today, ANROPI has stated that the government has imposed VAT on mustard oil despite it being an essential consumer commodity. With the imposition of VAT, Nepali mustard oil becomes dearer by about Rs 13 per litre compared to the Indian mustard oil, which will hurt the Nepali industry. — HNS

Industries closing down

BHOJPUR:

About 50 per cent of the industries registered at the small and cottage industry office, Bhojpur have closed down. These industries have been shut down due to lack of raw materials and petroleum products. A total of 467 industries were registered in the office in the current fiscal year. — RSS

Wheat output increases

KALAIYA:

The farmers of Bara district have cultivated wheat on 29,000 hectares of land, according to the agriculture development office, Bara. It is expected that a total of 91,200 metrics tonnes of wheat will be produced this year. Parsini, Bauhar, Prstika, Dhahibar, Paktepur and other VDCs have been regarded as the pocket areas for wheat production in the district. — RSS

Interaction organised

KATHMANDU:

An interaction on ‘customs and commerce’ was held on Tuesday to mark the 53rd International Customs Day. The speakers of the programme emphasised on the need to control the revenue leakage and make the customs administration effective, transparent and service oriented. Krishna Hari Banskota, general manager at the customs department presented a working paper on ‘map of the current customs oriented to improvement’ on the occasion. — RSS