Kathmandu, July 10

The government will now grade domestic cements under three different grades —33, 43 and 53 — to ensure its quality competitiveness.

Amending the existing law, which disallows manufacturers to label their products higher than 33-grade, the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) has introduced a policy which allows issuing quality certification for cement under 43-grade and 53-grade.

However, manufactures should submit application at NBSM with a claim for 43 and 53 grades and the bureau, after examining the product, will issue quality certification if the local cement brand meets quality parameters set for such grades of cement.

Though cement producers had been claiming that Nepali cement brands also meet the international quality standards of 43-grade and 53-grade cement, the government had not been certifying domestic cement under the given two grades due to lack of legal provision.

As a result, manufacturers had been saying that domestic cement brands are losing out as large development projects mention the requirement of 43-grade and 53-grade cement in their procurement specifications. Thus, a huge volume of cement is imported from India every year.

However, legal provision to grade cements under 43 grade and 53 grade standard means that manufactures will now be able to claim that their products meet the quality requirements of large projects as well.

“If domestic cement meets the quality standard, its demand will surely go up,” said Bishwo Babu Pudasaini, director general at NBSM, adding that domestic cement manufacturers, however, are yet to submit applications claiming that their products meet quality requirements of 43-grade and 53-grade cement.

Meanwhile, Dhurba Raj Thapa, president of Cement Manufacturers Association of Nepal, said that the domestic cement industries are encouraged by the new quality certification process ensured by NBSM. He also informed that manufacturers will apply for aforementioned quality certification at the bureau soon.

Nepal is gradually becoming self-reliant in cement. As per official data, country imported Indian cement worth Rs 24 billion in last fiscal, while the import plunged to almost Rs 12 billion in first 10 months of this fiscal.

Once domestic cement gets 43-grade and 53-grade quality certification, Indian import will gradually be substituted, as per local manufacturers.