The government will acquire 1,000 ropanis of community forest land to develop a special economic zone (SEZ) at Panchkhal in the Kavre district. In a cabinet meeting on August 12, the government allocated Rs 200 million for acquisition of the land.
With the amount, the Ministry of Industry (MoI) has acquired 440 ropanies of land used by Devithan Padulla Community Forest and 560 ropanies of land from Sikharpur Community Forest.
The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) received the amount after it agreed to provide the land used by two local community forests for the development of the proposed SEZ. MoFSC has said that it will spend the amount in the forest development program in Bashanta in Bardiya, Dhaka in Kailali and Laljhadi in Kanchanpur corridors.
Yam Kumari Khatiwada, joint-secretary at MoI, said the ministry decided to construct SEZ in Panchkhal in view of huge markets in neighboring India and China. She said that the goods produced at SEZ in Panchkhal will be easier to export to the neighboring countries.
"The long-running problem of land acquisition has just been solved. We will instantly begin the next phase of work. As the location of the proposed SEZ has been changed, the ministry is now preparing to develop an extensive design and conduct Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the current fiscal year," she told Republica.
She said as the SEZ bill has been under consideration in parliament since 2009, the ministry has been following the model of India for the time being.
Following the decision to construct SEZ in the area, local land owners had raised the price of their land to impractical levels, obstructing the government to implement the project. The government however has been able to begin the process by acquiring the land from the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC).
The government had previously planned to construct SEZ in Panchkhal combining lands of Hokshe VDC-4, Baluwa VDC-1 and 3 and some areas of Sathighar VDC. However, after the land owners increased the price of their land, the government changed its plan and collaborated with MoFSC.
"After the landowners asked for Rs 1 million for the land which was worth Rs 100,000, the allocated budget was kept frozen for a couple of years," said Krishna Prashad Sapkota, lawmaker from Kavre.
"As in SEZ bill of other nations including India, we have made it mandatory that at least 75 percent of the total goods produced from SEZ are exported. The government will also offer special exemptions in customs, VAT and other taxes in the production, export and transport of the goods," added Khatiwada.
Diyesh Ratna Shakya, president of Kavre Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said that the SEZ in Panchkhal will help in its economic development and will generate employment in the neighboring areas including Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Ramechhap and Sindhuli, among others. "The local entrepreneurs are excited to reap the benefits of SEZ and thanks the government for the decision," he said.
The government has allocated a total of Rs 140 million for the development of SEZs at different places in the nation in the new budget.
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