Flour mills seek inclusion in agricultural industry

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 7: Nepal Flour Mills Association (NFMA) has demanded that the government should take initiatives to formulate a long-term policy to increase wheat production, and to provide facilities to the flour mills by including them in the category of agricultural industry. 

"Since flour is a 100 per cent agricultural processing industry, the government should take initiatives to keep the mills under the agricultural industry and provide facilities accordingly," the association demanded at its 23rd Annual General Meeting held the other day in the capital. 

Likewise, it asked for simplifying the wheat import procedure from India as the raw materials of flour wheat are not enough from the production of Nepal. However, stating that since the country has become self-sufficient in flour, there is no need to import flour from abroad.

Export subsidy to protect the domestic industry as it has a high potential of third country export and providing subsidy on such exports,   maintaining the bank interest rate at single digit, fair competition in the market, and revision of the customs evaluation of wheat and flour imports, and insurance premium of flour industry are other demands put forth by the association. 

Similarly, it recommended setting the customs duty at 1 per cent while importing wheat for the industry as its raw materials. 

About Rs. 17 billion is invested in flour mills in Nepal and it has created more than 4,000 jobs, according to the association

Meanwhile, the meeting unanimously elected Kumud Kumar Dugar  as its new President for the second term. It also elected first vice-president Dinesh Kumar Agarwal, second vice-president Arun Goenka, third vice-president, Bikas Begwani, general secretary Radheshyam Agarwal, secretaries Anand Ojha, Dhiraj Golcha and Sanjay Agarwal, and treasurer Binod Kumar Agarwal. The new working committee of 17 people, including members, has been elected unanimously.