CNI Urges Industry-Focused Budget

The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that prioritizes industrial expansion and investment growth.

CNI President Birendra Raj Pandey and his delegation presented detailed recommendations to Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle at his office on Sunday, stressing the need to recognize the private sector as the engine of national development.

Issuing a statement, CNI said that the budget should support income generation, wealth creation, economic expansion, employment opportunities, and investment growth. It proposed sector-specific measures covering industry and investment, foreign direct investment, taxation, customs, tourism, agriculture, herbs and forest products, energy, information technology, banking and finance, insurance, cooperatives, capital markets, promotion of domestic production, infrastructure, health, education, non-tax revenue, revenue leakage control, and asset management.

CNI called for industrial policy stability of at least ten years, a competitive industrial development strategy, and a budget framework centered on employment, production, and import substitution.

Further suggestions included simplifying and integrating the tax system, lowering personal income tax rates, and introducing risk-based audit mechanisms. CNI also recommended differentiating customs tariffs between raw materials and finished goods, offering tax incentives to industries using domestic raw materials, and strengthening inter-agency coordination to curb smuggling while enforcing minimum quality standards for imports.

To attract private investment in large-scale infrastructure projects, CNI proposed flexible land-use policies, allowing industries to use approved land as collateral and enabling settlement of outstanding payments between industries and government agencies.

Responding to the proposals, Finance Minister Wagle acknowledged that private capital is essential for development. He underscored the need for legal and tax reforms and assured that wealth creation would be addressed with priority. The minister reaffirmed the government’s clarity on the necessity of private sector investment, particularly in infrastructure, to achieve sustainable growth.