Huaxin Cement Narayani, a Nepali-Chinese joint venture formed to establish a cement factory in Dhading district is all set to start the construction of the plant. According to Investment Board Nepal, the government agency facilitating the joint venture company told the Post that the foundation stone of the factory will be laid within a few days.

“The promoters of the company have informed us that they will lay the foundation stone on Friday and start the construction,” said Uttam Bhakta Wagle, spokesperson at the Investment Board Nepal (IBN). “They have also said us that if everything goes as planned, construction of the cement plant will be completed in one and half year.”

The Huaxin Cement Narayani is the second Nepali-Chinese joint venture in domestic cement industry after Hongshi-Shivam Cement. Suraj Vaidya, former president of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries is the Nepali partner in the joint venture.  

The company has already purchased 500 ropanies of the land required for the construction and operation of its plant at Panikharka of Dhading. It has also acquired a limestone mine from the Department of Mine and Geology through global tender by paying Rs600 million.

Huaxin Cement Narayani had signed project investment agreement (PIA) with the IBN in the presence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Chinese capital Beijing in June 2018. The PIA is an agreement a foreign investor needs to sign with IBN to develop private projects in Nepal.

The PIA is an agreement which will remind the government and the foreign venture of their obligations, and protect the interest of the foreign investor in Nepal.

The pact will also assure that the foreign venture, despite the huge foreign investment, will receive treatment as a domestic company in Nepal.

The Chinese venture obtained the foreign direct investment approval of $140 million from the IBN in December 2015. The project developer has claimed that it will produce 3000 tonnes of cement daily once the plant comes into operation and provide employment opportunities to around 1000 people.

Hongshi-Shivam Cement, the another Nepal-Chinese joint venture has already started production from its plant at Sardi, 12km southwest of Dumkibaas in Nawalparasi district. Its main limestone quarry site is located in Palpa, which is 22 km away from the factory.

It is a joint venture between Nepal-based Shivam Holdings, which also produces Shivam brand of cement, and Hong Kong Red Lion Cement No 3, a subsidiary of Hongshi Group, the biggest building material enterprise in China. The factory has the capacity to produce 6000 tonnes of cement daily and the project developers claim that they will double the capacity in a next few years.