Ramechhap, April 3

Scores of cottage and small scale industries have been limited to paper alone in Ramechhap district.

As per the Cottage and Small Scale Industries Development Committee, as many as 2,660 industries have been registered in the district so far, but only around 100 industries are operating currently, while many have been shut.

According to sources, many of the industries were registered just to avail loan from banks and financial institutions. “Many industries which are registered with the government office have pulled their shutters down after drawing loan,” said Kalyan Budhathoki of Ramechhap Municipality.

Rajendra Shrestha, officer at Cottage and Small scale Industries Development Committee Ramechhap said that more than 200 such industries were registered this fiscal alone in the district. Of them, many industries which were registered this fiscal were renewed. However, many of the industries in the rural areas have remained shut.

A total of 1,226 industries have been registered under the commerce category in the district. “Though it seems that there is tough competition to register industries, many remain only on paper due to lack of raw materials and skilled human resources and dearness problems in investment,” said industrialists.

However, the locals said, “Many industries remain confined to paper only.”