Three Industrial estates with biggest at Jigmeling

Plan for the development of industrial estates and special economic zones (SEZ) received a boost with the National Land Commission approving 1,185 acres for the country’s largest industrial estate at Jigmeling, Gelephu.In addition, a detailed strategic assessment report for the Dham Dhum industrial estate in Samtse has identified an additional plot for a SEZ and an extended Samtse town nearby.Land acquisition for the smallest Motanga Industrial estate of 152 acres in Samdrup Jongkhar is also almost complete.“The government will be giving the first priority to Jigmeling in the 10th Plan and in the next two years some substantial work will be done,” said the director of industry, Sangay Wangdue. The economic affairs ministry is soon expected to call for expression of interest for the development of the estate.

More than 163 MoEA staffs Successfully completed OPA System training
More than 163 staffs of MoEA took active part in the OPA(Office Procedure Automation)system training conducted by MoEA ICT Unit and DIT,MoIC at MoIC Conference hall for two weeks. The training on OPA System(Office Procedure Automation) has been one of the important priority from the list of targeted task of ICT Unit for the fiscal year 2010.It has also been one of the objective as highlighted and pointed out durng the GNH Meeting(MoEA-Ministry Meeting) held in the Ministry.The  Head of ICT Unit,Mr Sonam Chedup earlier prepared detailed schedule of OPA training for the  MoEA Staffs starting from the Top level Officials to the Messengers and Dispatchers,who would directly or indirectly be involved in using the OPA system."The success of OPA system depends on active participation from individuals and from the senior officials,the decision makers"."We are ready with OPA system resources,and in a Ministry like MoEA,it would sure going to make a difference in the way we work while saving huge bulk of paper and other expenses",said Sonam Chedup. The implementation would soon be started once filing format and data entry been finalized.

Circular from Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA/SEC/AFD-6/2010/15, dated 17th August 2010)
This is to notify all concerned that with the establishment of Department of Cottage and Small Industries under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, all industrial activities (both manufacturing and services) with fixed investment of upto Nu. 10 million shall be dealt by this Department as these fall under small and cottage scale categories. The Department of Industry shall deal with medium and large scale projects with fixed investment of more than Nu. 10 million and FDI.
......
Fore more information and to view the circular, click the link here

Clearing the decks
Trade department officials say that for Bangladesh vehicles to enter Bhutan, a transportation agreement between the two countries is a must.
The officials were responding to an online media report, where the Bangladesh foreign minister, Dipu Moni, was quoted as saying that, as part of arrangements between India and Bangladesh on transit facilities to allow India to connect to its northeastern states through Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan will also be able to use Bangladesh’s port facilities by the year end.She was also quoted as saying that Bangladesh vehicles would be allowed to enter into Nepal and Bhutan through India under this arrangement. She also said that no protocol was likely to be required with India to launch the routes with Nepal and Bhutan, as exchanges of letters between Dhaka and New Delhi would be sufficient to accomplish the formalities to enable the two landlocked countries to use Bangladesh’s port facilities.The economics affairs minister, Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, said that such economic cooperation in the region would be of mutual benefit to all. “And towards this, all arrangements to facilitate easy movement of goods will be most welcome,” he said.Bhutanese exporters said that, with established trade routes via India to Bangladesh already in place, it was convenient enough at present.Burimari, which is about 117 km from Phuentsholing, is the most active land trade route currently being used by Bhutan to export horticulture and mineral products, and import garments and melamine products from Bangladesh.Some industrialists said that it was difficult to comment on how access to seaports might benefit, because most had not used it at all.“It needs to be studied whether its cheaper to use the Indian sea ports or the Mongla and Chittagong ports,” said one.

Cleaning up, wholesale
Nearly all the 3,000 hardware shops in the country sell counterfeit electrical and plumbing goods, said officials from department of trade, (DoT) and the standard and quality control authority (SQCA).
This is likely to change from next month, when electrical and plumbing manufacturers start getting approval to set up their local wholesale dealers in the country, one of the important components of the revised “product brand approval scheme 2010.” It is initiated to ensure the use of “quality and branded” electrical and plumbing materials in the country, said officials.“This is one area where we’re really struggling in terms of monitoring quality,” head of standardisation and certification division with SQCA, Chewang Rinzin said. “What we find in the market is all spurious, inferior quality and imitate products.”As of December 2009, there are 340 wholesale hardware dealers and 3,340 retailers across the country, records with the DoT show. “This is done to ensure and protect the interest of the consumers, many of whom aren’t even aware about the quality of products they buy,” joint director, Dophu Tshering said.

Work on hydro projects in full swing
The Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) is in the final phase of completing the update on detail project report (DPR) for the Bunakha and the Sankosh hydroelectric projects and will be submitting the final report to the government soon. According to the report prepared by THDC, so far drilling work of 249 meters on the right bank of the river at Sankosh hydropower project site has been completed. The drifting work is in progress. The construction of ropeway for crossing the machineries is also in full swing. The report states that a rock fill dam with clay core of about 265 meters height and 20 meters width will be constructed, though it is yet to be finalized. Four diversion tunnels with diameters of about 11.6 meters each will also be constructed in the upstream of the river. There will also be four head race tunnels with diameters of 12.5 meters each. In the main dam complex, four surge shafts with a diameter of 28 meters each and eight pressure shafts of about 7.5 m in diameters will be constructed. The power house will have eight turbans which can generate 4,000 MW of electricity. About 50 meters downstream, a regulating dam of 1,367 meters width and height 37.5 meters will be constructed. This will generate 60 MW electricity.

Renewable Energy Policy Encourages small Projects
Bhutan will strive to generate 200MW of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 according to the newly released draft renewable energy policy.It will be achieved through renewable energy systems like wind, solar, bio energy and mini hydro projects to meet the domestic energy demand.All the renewable projects will be developed under BOO (build, own, and operate) model which will include the private sector and the time period a private enterprise can run the project after construction will be according to the size of the project and its economic life.Private individuals can run a pico sized hydro project which is up to 10 kW for five years, micro sized hydro projects which is up to 100kW for 15 years, wind projects for 20 years, biomass for 20 years, solar PV for 25 years, concentric solar power for 25 years, MSW projects 20 years, and geothermal projects for 30 years, excluding the construction period. However, the BOO model will not apply to hydro project sizes of 1,000 kW and above.The investors in the renewable energy will be exempted from all taxes for 15 years from the date of commercial operation. The project developer, manufacturer and system integrators of renewable energy will be exempted from import duties and Bhutan sales tax on import plants and equipment.