Hari Bhakta Upadhyay Adhikari

Gemstone Expert

Without technical knowledge, it is impossible to go ahead in this. There should be academic courses in the universities on gemstones. The students should be provided with technical and theoretical knowledge. Training centres should be set up in the East, West and Kathmandu. For that, a budget of Rs 50 million would be sufficient to begin with.

Being a civil engineer, what attracted you towards gemstones?

In my 25 years long career with the government, I reached a lot of places in Nepal. I was interested in herbs too. Working as an engineer, I also went on gathering information on gemstones of Nepal. With a technical background, it was easier for me to understand them. After I took up voluntary retirement from government job in 1991, I began intensive study on gemstones. I studied a lot of literatures on gemstones. Based on my study of 18 years, I have written two volumes of a book on gemstones named ‘Nepal Ratna’. These books are helpful to gain knowledge on precious stones.

Where did you find the major concentration of such stones?

In Kaligandaki river, ruby, sapphire, tourmaline and jasper are available. Trishuli river is a treasure house of Topaz. Madi, Phidim and Karnali rivers have garnet. Narayani, Trishuli and Mahakali rivers have kyanite, quartz and jasper. Taplejung, Manang, Sankhuwasabha, Bhojpur, Jajarkot, Achham, Bardiya, Kalikot, Lamjung and Dhankuta have emerald, ruby, sapphire, beryl and other precious stone. Similarly, corundum, topaz, quartz, garnet, aquamarine, opal, jade, moonstone are found in Nepali mountains from east to west. In Ganesh Himal, I had found a mountain of ruby.

You ‘had’ found a mountain of ruby. Isn’t it there now?

Nepal Metal Company was established in 1976 with Hyderabad Industries Limited, Government of Nepal and ordinary Nepali people as shareholders.  After Nepal Government and the Indian company, the largest shareholder was Mohan Gopal Khetan and he was very influential in the company. I too had some shares. At the 14th annual general meeting of the company in 1995, I raised a strong voice that the ruby extracted from Ganesh Himal was being exported without authorisation. The meeting formed a seven member investigation committee with me as its head. But none of the members agreed to go to Ganesh Himal with me to investigate. Later I found that someone had told them that Mohan Gopal Khetan might cause them great harm. So, I too did not go there at that time. Later in 1996 when I went there, the hillock that I had identified earlier as the deposit of ruby was blasted out. The mound of 15 metre width and eight metre height was estimated to contain 19 metric tonnes of ruby. However, though the ruby from the hill was taken away like that, there still is a very high potential of ruby deposit in the 60 hectares area around that destroyed hill. 

What would be the value of the ruby there?

Ruby now is priced at Rs 17,000 per carat. Five carats make one gram. So one gram is worth Rs 85,000. That means, the 19 tonnes of ruby converted into money at today’s price would be sufficient to meet the government budget of Nepal for 500 years at today’s budget size. The then royal palace played major role in taking out rubies from there. 

Despite such immense availability of gemstones, why is nothing being done?

There is utter lack of human resource with good knowledge of gemstones. Even the department of mines under the government does not have a gemstone expert. There are no academic courses in this field so there is no possibility of gemstone experts being developed for the future. The government must do something urgently in this. 

What have you done personally towards it?

After I began studying gemstones, I felt the serious lack of human resource. Then at my own cost, I established Gemstone Research and Training Centre and began providing trainings. But, now I have discontinued it due to the power outage. Till now I have trained 80 persons on identifying gemstones, cutting and polishing them, cutting with the use of modern machines for export quality finish, carving hole with the ultrasonic drill machine and identifying and certifying the stones. I have been providing trainings too going to different offices under the Department of Cottage and Small Industries. And I have also designed a training course to be given by the Department on finishing gemstones. 

What are your trainees doing now?

Some are running their own businesses. Some others are working in this sector at Thamel and in Bhaktapur and Surkhet.  But most of them are not in this field. Due to the lack of capital, they have not been able to mine the stones and run factories to process them. 

What about government licensed gemstone exploration or mining?

 There are very few people who are in gemstone mining with government license.  Most of the mines are illegal. I have heard that tonnes of raw gemstones are exported every month to Jaipur in India.  Nepali ruby, sapphire, tourmaline and aquamarine are exported to Japan, Germany, America, Singapore, Switzerland, Belgium, Sri Lanka and South Africa. But I have not come to know anyone who holds a license to mine ruby, sapphire and aquamarine. Quartz is mined at Dhading, Gorkha, Rasuwa, Darchula, Bajhang and Sindhupalchowk. Similarly, aquamarine is collected from Taplejung and Rasuwa while Tourmaline is collected from Manang and Jajarkot. Garnet is mined from Sankhuwasabha and Ruby and Quartz from Dhading.  These stones are mined without license and exported. The government has failed to see that.

Didn’t you talk to the government for cooperation on locating and mining the gemstone deposits?

I talked to Sahana Pradhan and Hridayesh Tripathi when they were Ministers of Industry but they declined the request citing the lack of budget. I have talked to the Department of Mines and Geology time and again. But nobody cares. In fact the Department does not have experts. So I am focused on producing qualified human resource.

What do you suggest as the most important thing to do in this field? 

Without technical knowledge, it is impossible to go ahead in this. There should be academic courses in the universities on gemstones. The students should be provided with technical and theoretical knowledge. Training centres should be set up in the East, West and Kathmandu. For that, a budget of Rs 50 million would be sufficient to begin with. I am 81 years old now. I wish to see three training centres coming into operation within my lifetime. If that happens, hundreds of thousands of Nepalis would get employed and Nepal’s economy would turn around.

How do you see the future of gemstones in Nepal?

Water resource helps the economy in an indirect way. The electricity generated from water should be first used to run factories and produce goods which can then be exported to get the money. But, gemstones can be sold straight from the mine. Nothing is being done in Nepal in this sector. I believe the kyanite (aluminium silicate) deposit of Nepal can meet the aluminium demand of the entire world. Similarly, gemstone kyanite costs US $ 1500 a gram. A truck full of such kyanite is illegally taken to India every month. The Customs Department and the police do not know about its value and usage as they are ignorant about the precious stones. The illegal mining and export must be stopped. If the government involves the private sector in this field, it can contribute more than hydro and herb resources do to the economy.