Kathmandu, August 8: The old looms used for weaving fabric at the Hetauda Textile Industry, which has remained closed for years, have started running again.
Pradip Pariyar, private secretary to Prime Minister Balendra Shah, said successful trial production began at the industry today, Saturday, after its old machines were repaired.
According to Pariyar, trial production began after old machines and looms inside the industry were repaired and maintained under the leadership of the Nepali Army.
After the machines that had remained idle for a long time were brought back into operation, the sound of the looms weaving fabric has once again begun to be heard on the industry premises, Pariyar said in a social media post accompanying a video of the looms in operation.
According to him, the long-running efforts to reopen the industry have now reached the trial production stage. He said the old machines were repaired and brought into operation under the leadership of a Nepali Army general.
As the Hetauda Textile Industry had remained closed for a long time, its machines, electrical system and physical infrastructure had deteriorated. Recently, work had been carried out to clean the industry premises, repair the electrical system and test the machines.
Earlier, a task force studying the operation of the industry had submitted a plan to the government to immediately begin trial production and, based on the results, operate the industry at full capacity over the long term. The repair of the electrical system inside the industry had also been completed, it was reported. The government had earlier said it was preparing to bring the Hetauda Textile Industry back into operation within the current fiscal year.
Industry Minister Gaurikumari Yadav had said the Hetauda Textile Industry would be given priority among the sick industries and brought back into operation, while efforts would also be made to advance the Butwal Spinning Mill and cotton farming along with the textile industry. Trial production began after the government decided on Asar 18 to reopen the Hetauda Textile Industry.
Two decades later, preparations to resume production
Established in 2032 with financial and technical assistance from the Chinese government, the Hetauda Textile Industry began commercial production in 2035. However, after failing to remain in operation for long, the industry has been closed since 2057.
The effort to reopen the industry is not new. Previous governments had also repeatedly announced plans and conducted studies to bring the industry back into operation. In 2073, a committee was formed to conduct a detailed study on reopening the industry, while in 2075 the government prepared a study report concluding that the industry could be operated. At the time, the report suggested that around Rs 300 million would be required to operate the industry and that it could be run under various models.
Similarly, in 2075, a feasibility study was conducted on reopening the industry with the involvement of the Nepali Army. More recently, the budget for fiscal year 2081/82 also announced that the Hetauda Textile Industry would be brought into operation under a public-private partnership model.
Long-term plan after trial production
Although the start of trial production is an important beginning toward reopening the industry, the challenge of making it competitive and sustainable in the long term remains before the government. Questions have been raised about the industry’s old machinery and technology, production costs and competition with the private sector.
Experts and industry officials say it would be difficult to compete with modern industries using old technology and that substantial investment would be required for new technology. The need to ensure the supply of raw materials, including cotton and yarn, to make the Hetauda Textile Industry sustainable has also been raised as an important issue for years. For now, however, the return of the looms at the long-idle industry to operation has itself become a new sign of hope.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said the Nepali Army has been given responsibility for trial production as part of efforts to reopen the Hetauda Textile Industry.
According to him, trial production is being carried out under the Army’s responsibility, after which the government itself is preparing to operate the industry. Prime Minister Shah said trial production began after the looms were repaired and that some fabric production has already started.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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