Civil Bank Limited is distributing IPO Share Certificates

Civil Bank Limited is distributing 8 million units IPO Share Certificates to the IPO investors from 1st Fagun, 2069 from the concerned deposited center. (the office from where you received the share allotment slip.)

Civil Bank Limited offices
    Or
Issue Managers:

- Nabil Investment Banking Limited

- ACE Capital Limited

- NCM Merchant Banking Limited

- Nagarik Lagani Kosh

Govt approves three projects worth over Rs 55 billion

KATHMANDU, FEB 11 - 2013

The Industrial Promotion Board has approved three projects that have collectively pledged investment worth around Rs 55 billion. The projects include a five star hotel promoted by MIT Group Holdings and two hydropower projects—Upper Trishuli-1 and Madi Khola.

The board headed by the industry minister decides on projects worth more than Rs 2 billion.

Dhruba Raj Rajbanshi, member secretary of the board, said MIT Group Holdings’ proposal to build a five star hotel in Kathmandu has been approved.

MIT Group Holdings is promoted by Shesh Ghale, a non-resident Nepali (NRN) based in Australia. Ghale had announced his plans to build a five-star hotel in Kathmandu during a function to mark the NRN Day four months ago.

The company will invest around Aus$ 75-80 million (Rs 6.64 billion-Rs 7.09billion) in the project that will ‘start within a year’. MIT Group, which has bought land near the Narayanhiti Palace Museum for the project, has said the hotel will come into operation by 2017.

Another project getting the board’s approval is 216MW Upper Trishuli-I hydro power project being developed by Nepal Water & Energy Development Company (NWEDC) in Rasuwa district. The project is worth Rs 46.76 billion.

The company has received the survey licence from the Department of Electricity and the board’s approval has paved the way for the project to acquire the generation licence. The company has also completed survey work, including environmental impact assessment and detailed engineering study.

NWEDC is a joint-venture between Korea South-East Power Company Limited, Daelim Industrial Company Limited and Kyeryong Construction Industrial Company Limited.

As far as the 10MW Madi Khola-1 hydropower project is concerned, it is being developed by the Annapurna Group with Rs 3.8 billion investment. The Kaski-based project has already signed the power purchase agreement with the Nepal Electricity Authority.

Industry Minister Anil Kumar Jha said those projects were approved in line with the government policy to fast-track project approvals. “These projects will not only bring FDI in Nepal, but will also send a message to the international investors that Nepal has a favourable investment environment,” he said.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Govt to finalize ToR for soft loan from EIB

KATHMANDU, Feb 11, 2013

The government is holding negotiations with the European Investment Bank (EIB) next week to finalize terms and conditions for soft loan of US$ 70 million for the construction of 140 mega watts Tanahun Hydropower Project.

“A team from EIB is scheduled to visit Nepal next week to finalize the terms and conditions for the soft loan,” joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Madhu Marasini, who also heads the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division (IECCD), told Republica.

The government has already arranged a total of US$ 300 million soft loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for development of the project. “We will seek an additional US$ 70 million from EIB in the meeting scheduled for next week," Marasini said.
The government has already finalized terms and conditions for the soft loan with ADB and JICA. “The terms and conditions with EIB will be different from that of ADB and JICA,” said an official at the Ministry of Energy (MoE).

ADB has agreed to provide soft loan at 1.5 percent interest with 30 years of maturity period. Similarly, JICA has agreed to provide soft loan at 0.01 percent interest with 40 years of maturity period.

“The meeting with EIB team next week will dwell on finalizing interest rate and maturity period,” the official said. The second reservoir type hydropower project after Kulekhani will be developed by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) after the government arranges fund for the project.

Meanwhile, the government is also vying for a loan of US$ 30 million from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) for the development of the project. “ADFD has expressed interest in funding the Tanahun Hydropower Project. But any meeting with DFD has not been fixed so far,” said the official.

ADB, which is a lead funding partner, had provided US$ 25 million in grant assistance to prepare the detailed report (DPR) of the project. “The project design has been completed,” said project Chief Mahesh Prasad Acharya.

If everything goes as planned, the national pride project based in Bayas municipality of the Tanahu will start generating power by 2020. According to officials engaged in the negotiation process, ADB and JICA both also have taken Tanahun Hydro as a “prestige project”

Source: Republica

Nepal, Bangladesh to sign zero-tariff pact

KATHMANDU, FEB 11 - 2013

Nepal and Bangladesh are all set to hold commerce joint-secretary-level talks on February 17, in which the government will sign some crucial trade agreements, including the zero tariff facility under which 146 Nepali agro-goods can enjoy free market access to the country’s second largest trading partner in South Asia.

The Nepal government is also likely to take a decision on the Bangladesh government’s demand that some of its products be given preferential treatment in the Nepali market.

During a secretary-level meeting between the two countries held in Kathmandu on June 30, 2012, the Bangladeshi side had agreed in principle to provide duty-free access to Nepali vegetables, fruits.

In that meeting, Nepal had sought the facility for 246 Nepali products, including lentils, tomato and herbs, among others. The meeting had formed a bi-lateral technical committee to study and decide on how many and which Nepali products would get duty-free access to the Bangladeshi market.

The committee was led by Naindra Prashad Upadhya, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies.

“The upcoming meeting, which is being held in Dhaka, is the meeting between these two technical committees,” said a ministry official.

The ministry has prepared a list of agro items to recommend for duty-free market access to Bangladesh. The list was prepared in coordination with private sector bodies including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Exporters have been complaining that despite huge demand, Nepali agriculture products are facing difficulties to enter the Bangladeshi market due to high duty.

During the 2012 meeting, the Bangladeshi side had demanded trade expansion and tariff cut for their products to five percent. The tariff cut was sought on products such as juice, fish, clothes, tissue paper, electrical goods, pharmaceuticals and cement, among others. “We will try to explore possibilities to fulfill their demands,” said the ministry official.

In the upcoming meeting, Nepal will ask the Bangladesh i side to endorse the transport agreement signed in 2006. The agreement envisages connecting Nepal and Bangladesh directly through India and is expected to ease and enhance trade between the two countries. “Besides, the meeting will also discuss other modalities of transportation,” said Upadhya who will lead the Nepal i side in the meeting.

He said the Nepali side will also forward a draft of the agreement on the food quarantine certification system.

“As per the request of the Bangladesh government, we are handing over the draft of the memorandum of understanding on the food quarantine certification system,” he said.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Land acquired to build integrated check post

BIRATNAGAR, FEB 11 - 2013

The government has finally acquired land in Biratnagar to build an integrated check post (ICP). The acquisition was delayed for two years making the Indian government, which is constructing the ICP as a donation, fall behind schedule.

The ICP located on the Nepal-India border will house all the regulatory agencies such as immigration, customs, border security and quarantine along with other facilities including currency exchange, internet and cafeteria. There will be a matching complex on the Indian side of the border.

As per an agreement signed with India, it will construct the ICP with its own resources and Nepal will provide the required land. According to the plan, construction will be completed within two years after Nepal makes the land available.  Rosan Shrestha, chief of the Urban Development and Building Construction Division Office, said the government had started the paperwork to hand over the 126-bigha plot to India. The estimated cost of the proposed ICP is Rs 1.31 billion.  Land acquisition for the project had been delayed by a dispute over compensation. The government has paid about Rs 140 million as compensation to the landowners. Meanwhile, about 50 percent of the construction work has been completed on the other side of the border in India.

Shrestha said that the government had acquired another 40 bighas of land for Rs 170 million to build a road connecting the check post to the national highway. “We are behind schedule, but it is expected that construction of the ICP will be completed within the next two years,” added Shrestha. If building work had started on schedule, it would have been completed by July 2012.

In 2005, Nepal and India had signed an accord to build ICPs on either side of the border at Biratnagar, Birgunj, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj. India promised to bear the construction costs.

Traders in eastern Nepal have been routing imports from third countries through the roundabout Raxaul border point. “After the ICP is built in Biratnagar , it will not only ease exports and imports but also reduce the costs of trade,”

said Abinas Bohora of the Morang Merchant Association. The distance between Biratnagar and the Indian port of Kolkata is 735 km. The ICP will likely be linked with Indian railways which will facilitate trade with third countries, added Bohora. Raxaul is 900 km from Kolkata, and the distance between Raxaul and Biratnagar is 300 km.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Storage-type hydro-power to cost up to Rs 10.6 per KPH

KATHMANDU, Feb 10, 2013

A high-level panel has recommended purchase prices of Rs 10.60 and Rs 7.88 per kilowatt hour (KPH) for electricity generated from storage-type hydro power projects during dry and wet seasons respectively.

A task force formed at the Ministry of Energy (MoE) has recommended the new rates for Power Purchase Agreements (PPA).

"These PPA rates are recommended on the basis of the minimum price at which Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) can import power from India under the short-term power market by 2018," reads a report submitted to MoE last week.

An official at MoE, who is also a member of the panel, said the new rates were at par with those set for renewable energy sources such as solar and bio-mass.

"No one should be confused about the fact that the newly recommended rates are applicable only for storage-type hydro-power projects. They are not meant for run-of-the-river (ROR) type projects," added the official.

Under the new rate structure, separate PPA rates are set for the wet season -- wet season peak hours and wet season off-peak hours. According to the report, the PPA rate for wet season off-peak hours can fall between Rs 2 to Rs 5.73 KPH. "The exact rate for wet season off-peak hours is subject to negotiation," reads the report obtained by Republica.

The report states that the dry season refers to a period between December to the end of May while a peak-hour period is any six-hour period fixed by the Load Dispatch Center of NEA.

In a bid to attract private sector investment in storage hydro-power schemes that significantly regulate monsoon water flows, the government has fixed the PPA rates for storage-type projects on the basis of the avoided cost approach. "There could be two approaches applied in such price fixing mechanisms - cost plus approach and avoided cost approach," reads the report.

The report further highlights that the cost plus approach was adopted in India but is not suited to our context. "In the absence of a regulatory commission, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to adopt a cost plus approach in Nepal," the report states. The cost plus approach is a mechanism for passing on the justified costs of projects to consumers through retail tariff.

"In the absence of a regulatory commission, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to adopt a cost plus approach for engaging the private sector in storage hydro or renewable power projects. Hence the task force used the avoided cost approach for fixing PPA rates for storage-type hydro-power projects only," adds the report.

The government has fixed the PPA for ROR type projects that are below 25 megawatts at Rs 8.40 KPH during dry season and Rs 4.80 KPH in wet season.
The PPA for ROR hydro projects between 25 MW to 500 MW is fixed by negotiation with the NEA.

The private sector had long been urging the government to fix the PPA rates for storage-type hydropower projects. "We are hopeful that the private sector will be encouraged to invest in storage-type projects once the proposed rates are endorsed by the government," the official said.

Source: Republica

CRO officially launches online service

KATHMANDU, FEB 08 - 2013

The Company Registrar Office (CRO) on Thursday officially launched its online service. The new system facilitates registration, dissolution and other administrative work through the internet.

According to the CRO, the system enables companies to submit documents required for registration at CRO and forward application for dissolution through the internet. The companies can also check their status online.

Addressing a programme here on Thursday, CRO’s acting registrar Toya Nath Adhikari said the provision will end hassles that people faced while carrying out official work. “It will help minimise the rush at CRO and curb corruption,” he said.

Companies can now log on to CRO’s website — www.ocr.gov.np — to forward their documents, learn about their status and access other information.

However, for the complete registration process, company representatives need to make a one-time visit to the CRO office in Tripureswhor, Kathmandu, or in Lalitpur to pay registration charges and register their official signatures. “As there are no provisions of digital signature/finger print and online payment service, investors have to visit the CRO office once,” said Adhikari.

On liquidation, Adhikari said the office was planning to provide a complete service on liquidation of a company in coordination with the private sectors.

So far, entrepreneurs from a cross the country willing to register a new company had to come all the way to Kathmandu to submit their applications. For Lalitpur district, CRO has assigned the Department of Cottage and Small Industries, Lalitpur, to provide services related to company registration. The online system helps simplify the registration process and other official work. “People can get their company registered in seven easy steps compared to 15 steps at present,” said Sansar Jung Dewan, engineer at CRO.

CRO is implementing the online system in association with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group which is providing technical support worth $500,000 under the project named ‘Business Process Reengineering and Automation Project’.

With the commencement of the online service, CRO has also devised a company electronic filing directive 2013. The directive has envisioned managing separate electronic registers to store documents of various companies submitted to CRO.

CRO has registered over 90,000 companies so far. Besides registration, it also renews licenses of the companies and handles transfer of ownership. On an average, CRO deals with 100 applications and other administrative work daily.



Source: The Kathmandu Post

Entrepreneurs for scaling up renewable energy technologies

KATHMANDU, FEB 09 - 2013

Entrepreneurs and investors have expressed interest in scaling up renewable energy technologies so as to help the country achieve energy security.

During a programme titled ‘Energy for All Investor Forum’ held here on Friday, entrepreneurs and officials of banks and financial institutions expressed their readiness to invest in innovative energy production concepts and to expand the use of renewable energy to industrial units.

The forum, participated by nine enterprises, 10 investors and 150 representatives from government and development partners, discussed measures to scale up the existing conventional renewable energy technologies that has particularly focused on providing electricity for cooking and lightening purposes for households.

The forum was organised by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), a government entity working on promotion and development of renewable energy technologies, in support from Asian Development Bank.

AEPC Chief Executive Office Govind Pokharel said the sector has so far been largely dependent on small-scale solutions undertaken by the government such as providing grant and subsidies along with technical assistance.

“It is high time to attract private enterprises and financial institutions to upgrade the existing energy scenario and encourage investment,” he said, adding that renewable energy should now be used for creating economic opportunities through small-scale industries and other enterprises.

So far, promotion, development and installation of various renewable energy technologies such as micro/mini hydro projects, solar power systems, wind, bio-gas and improved cooking stoves, among others, are undertaken by the government in support from donor agencies and developmental partners. However, these efforts have been limited to providing energy for rural communities for cooking and lightening purposes.

Stakeholders said despite huge potential and growing interest from innovative entrepreneurs working in the sector, promotion of relevant technologies, including solar power, has not been satisfactory.

Meanwhile, enterprises, which have developed innovative business models such as electricity generation from poultry waste to bio-mass briquette production in large scale and mini-grids, have shown interest to commercialise the technologies.

Sharawan Pradhan from Gham Power Nepal, a private company working in the field of solar energy system, said private enterprises were facing difficulties due to the lack of proper government policies, poor investment climate and lack of access to funding agencies. “There is need for boosting the confidence of private entrepreneurs to achieve the goal of energy access to all,” he added.

Manoj Goyal, chief executive officer of Clean Energy Development Bank, and one of the panellists at the forum, said banks and financial institutions were ready finance ‘commercially viable and innovative’ plans. During the programme, various innovative business models — ranging from generating electricity above 1MW from poultry wastes to briquette industry and installation of mini-grids to distribute and sell power collected from various energy sources — were presented.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Sebon to amend securities regs to remove confusion

KATHMANDU, FEB 09 - 2013

The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) plans to amend the Securities Registration and Issuance Regulation 2007 to address confusion about the manner in which shares of the merged entity should be treated. Officials are also unsure about whether to allow all the promoter shares to be converted into public shares without offer documents.

Currently, Sebon has been registering shares of the merged companies as shares of a single entity. “We have introduced a policy of bringing shares of both the companies under a single entity,” said Sebon spokesperson Niraj Giri. “But there is no legal mechanism to put them under a single entity which we want to address with the planned amendment to the regulation.”

He added that there was confusion about whether to treat the merged entity as a different company or as the old one since there is no legal definition. According to him, another problem that has arisen is whether to return the fee one of the companies had paid for issuing rights shares but later chose to go for a merger.

“Amending the regulation will also address this confusion,” he said. A few such cases have emerged lately, but no decision has been taken due to the absence any legal mechanism, he added. “Discussions are continuing on what to do in such a situation, but they have reached no specific conclusion,” Giri said.

Another issue the amendment to the regulation will address is whether to make it mandatory for all the promoters to go through an offer document to sell their shares to the public. The current regulation requires all the promoters, regardless of the number of shares they hold, to go through offer documents to sell them to the public.

“We are discussing whether to be flexible in the case of promoters who own less than 1 percent of the shares,” Giri said. After Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) allowed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to reduce the number of promoters’ shares in a company from 70 percent to 51 percent in 2009, many banks had started selling promoter shares without going through offer documents. Sebon has forbidden such transfers citing the regulation.

Although Sebon had also proposed converting promoter shares into public by selling them on the secondary market in 2009, no concrete decision was taken at that time. Sebon will not permit promoters who own more than 1 percent of the shares in a company to convert them into public shares without offer documents. The company will also have to appoint an issue manager like during an initial public offering (IPO).

“The amendment to the regulation will also have to address whether to require promoters to go through offer documents again if all their shares are not sold the first time,” said Giri.

Another issue the amendment has to address is how to treat the issuance of shares to locals by infrastructure projects. Hydropower projects like Tamakoshi and road projects like Kathmandu-Hetauda Tunnel Highway are offering a certain portion of the shares to the local people. People from other locations cannot subscribe to such shares.

The current regulation treats the issuance of public shares available to everybody as IPO, but is silent with regard to shares set aside for locals.

Source: The Kathmandu Post