Hetauda, April 18: Production in Hetauda Cement Factory went down this year by 39 per cent as compared to last year. Factory GM Ramesh Kumar Aryal said production went down due to load-shedding and labour troubles.

The factory had produced 1.8 million sacks of cement by the end of Chaitra month last year but production during the same period this year was only 1.1 million sacks. Last year, the factory had targeted producing 3.6 million sacks of cement but could produce only 2.75 million sacks. The factory registered a profit of Rs 150 million last year.

The factory had set the same target for the current year as in the previous one. Factory deputy general manager Durganath Sharma said the plant would suffer losses if it failed to produce 950,000 sacks of cement during remaining three months of the current fiscal. Currently, it is producing 10,000 sacks a day.

Meanwhile, the factory raised the price of cement with effect from Tuesday. The factory said the price hike was a compulsion due to the rise in price of coal. The factory has fixed a dealer price of Rs 510 per sack of its Shakti brand of cement. The price for the government and public projects is fixed at Rs 525. For Hetauda, the price is Rs 527.68.