KATHMANDU, May 30: Sick industries that were hopeful of finally getting much-touted relief package, particularly after the cabinet last week approved an action plan of Ministry of Industry (MoI), will find their hopes shattered again as there is no parliament to amend the laws necessary for implementation of the package.
The government, which constantly failed to identify criteria for sick industries for well over one-and-a-half of decade, was preparing to amend Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA) incorporating the recommendations of a high-level task force formed to facilitate rehabilitation of sick industries.
But the dissolution of Constituent Assembly (CA) has eroded the possibility of amending IEA. "We can´t provide anything that is not under the law," Yam Kumari Khatiwada, joint secretary of the MoI said, "We can offer relief-packages that have been envisioned by IEA - 1992 only after finalizing the criteria for listing sick industries."
The committee has got cabinet approval to work and finalize the list of sick industries. "The committee will set the criteria for sick industries," Khatiwada said.
"Enacting the proposed IEA is crucial to industrial development," Khatiwada said adding, "We will try to take initiatives to provide as much as possible relief to the sick-industries."
However, the high level task force led by vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry has recommended multiple relief packages to the sick-industries ranging from bank loan restructuring to tax waiver.
The high-level taskforce has received applications from 26 firms for relief packages. "Additionally, six of them have put pressure on the ministry for immediate support," said a MoI source, declining to name the industries.
The ministry, which was looking forward to getting special economic zone (SEZ) bill endorsed and foreign direct investment policy revised has faced a set back following CA dissolution.
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