Government-owned Hetaunda Cement Industry has been closed for almost 5 months. The industry has not been operating since October 15 due to lack of coal, machine maintenance and loadshedding. Not only this, the stock of Hetaunda Cement has also been depleted for two weeks.

The state-owned Udaipur Cement Industry is also in the same situation. This industry has not been functioning well since Dasain. It shuts down for months and operates for a week or two, then shuts down again. It is said that the reason for the closure of Udaipur Cement is the lack of coal. 

These two government cements, operating in the name of market intervention, are themselves in a 'coma'. In this way, when the government cement industry is closed, the private industry is running wild. They are suddenly raising prices by carteling, syndicating.

In 6 months, Pratibora price has doubled. But the government is silent. He has not taken any initiative to start government cement production. Nor has it been able to take action against those who increase the price unnecessarily by monitoring the market. 

'Looking at the market situation, it seems that the price has been increased in collusion between the government and the businessmen. It seems that there is no monitoring when the price increases," said Krishan Prasad Bhandari (Marseille), president of Consumer Awareness Campaign Nepal, "The government is silent when the syndicate of cement businessmen runs."

In July, the price of cement was Rs 400 per bag. According to the Department of Commercial Supply and Consumer Protection, the price of cement has increased to 815 rupees after 6 months. There is a game to increase the price to Rs 1000 per bag. But the presence of the government has not been seen. 

After the increase in the price of cement, the Federation of Nepal Construction Professionals is also objecting. The federation has requested to stop the cartelization and black market of the cement industry by holding a press conference. 

If the price is not controlled, the federation is also ready to protest. "The price of cement has increased by 200 rupees per bag in a month due to cartelizing and black market," said the statement issued by the federation last Wednesday, "the current price increase should be canceled immediately." 

Businessmen are against the increase in the price of cement. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply is also silent on this issue. The ministry did not seem serious about consumer issues. Even when the price has doubled in 5/6 months, the government is sitting as if sleeping. Madhav Timilsina, President of Consumer Rights Research Forum, said, "Government's silence is irresponsible.  If action cannot be taken after monitoring the

, the government cement industry should be brought into operation immediately. Hareram Acharya, head of administration and spokesperson of Hetaunda Cement Industry, admits that the state of government cement industry is pathetic. 

He says that due to economic problems, the issue of when the production will start from the industry is in confusion. Even though the industry is closed, the regular expenditure is increasing. It has been about 5 months since the Hetaunda Cement Industry stopped production. For the last two weeks, there is no cement in stock, everything has been sold, said Acharya. 

There is no coal in the cement industry. Other raw materials are also lacking. Since the machine is old, maintenance work is also pending. But there is lack of budget for all these. "There was a tender for coal but the coal was not given because there was no guarantee of getting the money," he said. But there has been no hearing.'

Due to financial problems, dues of electricity authority have been piling up due to failure to pay tariffs for a long time. Acharya said that about 40 crores due to be paid to the authority remains. Udaipur Cement has also not fared well since Dasai. The problem in this industry is also the lack of coal. It lasted about 10 days in Pus. After that, it was closed again," Visheshwar Pal, president of the All Nepal Industrial Workers' Association said, "The condition of Udaipur cement industry is also miserable. General Manager Mahesh Sah also claimed that the industry had to be closed because of raw materials.