Er.energyNP@Gmail.com

Photo: Chitra Kumar Mijar/TRN Long-defunct Orind Magnesite Industry in Balefi Rural Municipality-8, Sindhupalchok.

Questions are once again being raised over whether the long-defunct Orind Magnesite Industry in Balefi Rural Municipality-8 will ever resume operations, as it has remained completely shut for the past 27 years.

Successive governments have repeatedly pledged to revive the industry, and the current administration has also stated that efforts are under way. However, no concrete timeline has been set.

Established on March 25, 1979 in Lamosanghu, the industry was shut down on December 10, 1998. Built at a cost of Rs. 3.59 billion, it was once considered the largest magnesite industry in Asia.

Spread across 364 ropanis of land in Lamosanghu, the industry is linked to the Kharidhunga mine in Bhimeshwor Municipality-9 of Dolakha, which covers around 5,200 ropanis. In total, 5,566 ropanis of land associated with the project now lies abandoned.

Despite operating amid various challenges until 1997, the factory has remained closed ever since. Neither locals nor federal authorities have been able to fix a date for its reopening. So far, revival plans have largely remained limited to political slogans.

Ramesh Shrestha, Chairperson of Balefi Rural Municipality-8, said that apart from site visits and report preparation by former industry ministers, federal lawmakers and other stakeholders, no tangible progress has been made towards reopening the plant.

The physical infrastructure of the industry has deteriorated significantly. Machinery and equipment used for magnesite production are no longer functional. The DBM furnace area is subsiding, while collection centres and laboratories are falling apart. Structures around the mining site have also been severely damaged.

Of the 51 residential quarters, most are abandoned, though some are currently used by the Armed Police Force and local organisations. The factory buildings continue to decay, and the 10.5-kilometre ropeway from Kharidhunga to Lamosanghu is in a critical condition, with cabins, cables and poles at risk of collapse.

Bikash Shrestha of Tripurasundari Rural Municipality warned that the deteriorating ropeway infrastructure poses a serious risk to life and property, as 87 towers are already bent and close to collapse.

More than 1,000 people lost their jobs when the factory shut down nearly three decades ago. Despite this, 18 employees are still receiving annual salaries and allowances amounting to Rs. 6.1 million.

Locals alleged that valuable materials, including timber, stone, copper wiring and iron, have been secretly sold off over the years. Remaining equipment and parts - including those at the main plant and mining site, such as bulldozers, tippers and drilling machines - are rusting and falling into disrepair.

The Government of Nepal holds an 83.33 per cent stake in the industry, with the remaining investment from Orissa Industries and the Khetan Group.

Magnesite deposits in Kharidhunga were first identified in 1970 by an Indian research team, which confirmed the presence of high-quality ore. Subsequent studies by the Department of Mines and Geology verified the findings. A German firm was later assigned to conduct surveys, technical studies and market analysis.

The German team reported reserves of 180 million metric tonnes of magnesite and 300,000 metric tonnes of associated minerals in the Kharidhunga area. It proposed a plant capable of producing 50,000 tonnes of dead-burnt magnesite and 20,000 tonnes of related products annually.

Following this, the government accepted a proposal from Orissa Industries, and an agreement was signed on October 17, 1978. The Nepal Orind Magnesite Pvt. Ltd. was then formally established under the Company Act 1964.

By Chitra Kumar Mijar