The government abolished the customs duty on the import of sponge iron after power generation swelled in a bid to encourage domestic consumption of electricity.

Factories housed in the SEZ are required to export at least 60 percent of their production, according to the Special Economic Zone Act.

Only 25 of the 69 plots at Nepal's first special economic zone in Bhairahawa have been utilised as there are no takers for the rest.

The problem has occurred because the roadside drains are narrow and they get clogged, insiders say.

Three Covid-19 patients died at Bhim Hospital and 11 at Corona Special Hospital in Rupandehi district on Wednesday.

Entrepreneurs say they can handle a short period of immobility, but worry the lockdown may be prolonged.

Factories in Bhairawaha have been again forced to slash production due to insufficient electricity supply.

The export-oriented enclave remains semi completed even though many ministers have come and gone.

With Nepali men going to work overseas, Indian workers take a big share of the labour market. As women workers are more sincere, there are signs that may change in the near future.

More than 700 freight trucks enter Nepal daily through Bhairahawa, making it the country's second busiest transit point.

Industrialists cite higher cost of raw materials and freight charges for the upsurge in market prices.

The column of trucks waiting to enter Nepal through the Sunauli border is usually 10 km long, traders say.

The hospital had received three ventilators from provincial government but there are no staff to operate them.

Most of the plants that have been forced to cut output are those producing cement, iron and steel, brick, tile and construction materials.

Local workforce is filling the vacuum created by foreign migrant workers who left for their home countries when the pandemic hit.