Industries fail to get cash incentives

Jan-3rd-2012
KATHMANDU: Out of a total 34 industries that applied for the cash incentives, only one third of them are qualified.

The three-member committee in the Department of Industry has confirmed that some 23 industries failed to fulfill the criterion for cash incentives.

“They have to again submit proper documents required for the verification of value addition to their products,” said spokesperson of the department Dhurba Joshi.

Gulmi Coffee Cooperative and Annapurna Coffee Industry are the only industries that have received cash incentives in the last two years.

“We have developed a set of standard that needs to be followed by the industries to become eligible for the cash incentive facility,” Joshi said, adding that the department has removed all the complications that have made the provision difficult to verify value addition.

“Now industries themselves can estimate the value addition in their products and submit it to the department for verification,” he added.

“The committee will check and verify the estimated value addition submitted by the industries and recommend them to the banks,” he said.

Three different raw material polyester and textile yarn and oil seed failed to meet the value addition standard set by the Department of Industries.

However, noodles, synthetic yarn and spinning industries fulfilled the standard for the value addition verification process. “Polyester and textile yarn does not have even 30 per cent value addition while in case of oil seed, it failed to verify its value addition,” Joshi said, adding that it also failed due to its production procedure that did not meet the norms. “The raw materials are currently not eligible for cash incentive till it is verified of its value addition and the production procedures.”

Ministry of Commerce and Supplies handed over the Cash Incentive programme to Department of Industry on June 16, 2011 but due to various complications in procedure the department has been forced to form new standard simplifying the procedure further.

The ministry approved the revised standard of cash incentive in August, 2011. The department has also formed a new three-member committee for effective and prompt evaluation of exporters eligible for cash incentive.

Earlier, the government had formed a six-member committee that had failed to carry out the cash incentive process.

“With the new committee, revised standard and simplified procedures, the department is hopeful of providing cash incentive to the exporters on time,” Joshi opined.

Cash incentive facility was brought to encourage and promote export.

According to facility, a product with value addition of 30 per cent to 50 per cent will get two per cent, whereas 50 per cent to 80 per cent value addition gets three per cent and value addition of more than 80 per cent will get four per cent cash incentives.

Cabinet continues incentives for tourism

KATHMANDU: Encouraged by increasing Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism in the country, the government has decided to continue incentives to the tourism entrepreneurs. The cabinet on Monday decided to provide cash incentives of Rs 500,000 to tourism entrepreneur or agency, who brings more than 100 tourists by air for a conference, meeting, conventions or exhibitions. The then finance minister Surendra Pandey in his budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 has announced the incentives to promote the MICE tourism in the country.

Himal.