The Nepal Weekly 
June 25, 2024
The Bio-Energy Entrepreneurs Association Nepal (BEEAN) has raised a voice objecting the government’s imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on the forest products that are being wasted in the forests, such as firewood, Banamara (Lantana Camara), bushes, etc. They are the main cause of forest fires, but briquettes and pellets are made utilising them.
In a press conference held on Sunday, the association expressed its displeasure that the Government policy allows tax and VAT exemptions to the import of briquettes and pellets raw materials of briquettes and pellets imported from India, but that results domestic industry raising cost of production. Therefore, the association strongly requests to reconsider the provision of maintaining low customs rates.
The budget for the next fiscal year, which was announced by the Finance Minister at the joint session of Lower and Upper Houses of Federal Parliament recently. The announcement has provided for import tax and VAT exemptions for exporting goods to India. Due to this, the sale of bushes and firewood sold domestically is not legal and the briquette and pellet enterprises based on forest products which are emerging only recently have been closed. “In this regard, we need to draw the government’s serious attention.”, the press statement reads.
According to bioenergy entrepreneurs, the removal of the VAT exemption given in the past on firewood, Banamara (Lantana Camara), briquettes and pellets will increase the cost of the national industry and end the possibility of import substitution of industrial fuel. The association said that this is a conspiracy to end Nepal’s industry, ‘on one hand, imports have decreased so that it is easy to re-import ready-made products, and on the other hand, enterprises based on forest products such as briquettes, pellets, etc., which have recently started operations, have been closed. Can the aspirations of a prosperous country be fulfilled in this way?’
Sushil Gyawali, president of the association, said that some young people in Nepal have been protecting the forest area of Nepal from forest fires with great enthusiasm and using non-wasted forest products and agricultural products (forest bushes, forest cuttings, saw dust, waste, ply waste, etc.). He stressed that these industries are working to replace fossil fuels (diesel, coal, LPG gas) imported from other countries by producing briquettes and pellets for thermal energy from forest waste materials, etc.
Experts say that fodder and waste produced naturally in one hector of forest can be made one ton of briquette. Another thing they mention is a whole some of energy produced by a cylinder of LPG (14.2 kg) can be recovered from 30 kg of briquette.
Collections and management of fodders and wastes also is an effective instrument to avoid risk of forest fire. So the methodology applied by some clever locals who take benefits from community forest should be replicated. They collect the fodders and waste from forest, put them in a pit, sprinkle water over the collected matter, cover it well and fire. That turns charcoal like substance which is sold to briquette factories. Thus, this methodology if applied, 172,000 hector supposed to be destroyed by forest fire in dry season (March to May) may be saved.
