September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging. The area is ideal for setting up industries from the point of view of geographical location and physical infrastructure.

However, the operation of industries is becoming difficult as the price of land in the corridor has skyrocketed.

Industrialists say that it would be commercially risky to set up an industry on the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor due to the high price of land.

 According to the entrepreneurs, the price of land, which was available for Rs 400,000 to 500,000 per kattha (3645 sq.ft) a decade ago, has now reached Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3 billion per Dhur (182.25 sq.ft).

A recent study report released by the Nepal Rastra Bank also mentions that it is challenging to set up new industries in the area due to the exorbitant price of land.

It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 large and small scale  industries in the Bara Parsa corridor, which is considered to be the only potential industrial corridor in Province 2.

Due to its location in the center of the country, easy access to the main ports and Indian seaports, this corridor has great potential for industrial development.

Hari Prasad Gautam, coordinator of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, insists that there should be another industrial zone in Bara-Parsa. “There is a need for another industrial zone in Bara and Parsa. At least 2,000 bigahs of land should be set aside for the industries,” Gautam told New Business Age.

Industries have been operating on both sides of a 26-kilometer stretch of Tribhuvan Highway connecting Birgunj with the East-West Highway. Recently, the conflict between the industries of corridor and public has been increasing. President of the association Subodh Kumar Gupta considers this as another challenge for the industry.

The private sector has demanded a new industrial zone in Bara-Parsa, which is connected to the Indian border. Coordinator Gautam complained that they had demanded land for the new industrial area but the federal and provincial governments turned a deaf ear to their demand.

 “We have drawn the attention of the province and federal governments. We were expecting the government to announce some plans in this regard in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, the government did not listen to the private sector,” said Gautam. The government had announced plans to build a new industrial zone in all the provinces five years ago.

Although the government has pledged to  build a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simara, Bara, the progress is not satisfactory. An industrial zone has been proposed in the Sagarnath forest area of ​​Sarlahi for Province 2. However, even this plan has not been able to move forward. The Gajendra Narayan Singh Industrial Area of ​​Saptari, which was built earlier, has not been able to attract industrialists.

Entrepreneurs claim that investors will not be attracted in other areas except Bara and Parsa. Entrepreneurs have suggested setting up an industrial zone in Bara-Parsa as it is easy to set up industries as well as to transport and export raw materials and finished goods.

According to the industrialists, the Bara Parsa area is suitable for industry as the dry port is connected to the Indian Railways, and seaports.