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The Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Multi-Purpose Project has completed 2.432 kilometers of tunnel digging in the three and a half months since the start of the construction process. The construction of the 13.3 km long diversion tunnel with a diameter of 5.5 meters under the project was started on October 14 last year. The project aims to divert 67 cubic meters of water per second from the Sunkoshi River to the Marin River at Kusumtar of Kamalamai Municipality-2 in Sindhuli. According to the project chief Mitra Baral, the project plans to complete the tunnel digging in the next 18-19 months. The US technology Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has been used to dig the tunnel. "Currently, construction work is being carried out 24 hours a day with 3 shifts of 8-8 hours each," said Baral. " On average, 25 meters of tunnels are being dug every day." "If we do not encounter any geological difficulties or technical problems, the construction will be completed before the contract schedule," he added. The China Overseas Engineering Co won the contract for the construction of a tunnel for the Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project by offering to do it for Rs 10.05 billion, nearly Rs 6 billion less than the price quoted by the government. The Department of Irrigation signed the project contract with the Chinese company on March 23, 2021. As per the contract, the work must be completed within 3 years of the start of construction. The water from the Sunkoshi will first be diverted to the Marin River in Sindhuli through the 7-meter-wide tunnel before being channeled into the Bagmati River. The water will then be collected at a barrage and distributed to irrigate fields. The tunnel is a part of the multi-billion Sunkoshi Marin Project located in Sindhuli and Ramechhap districts that aims to take water from the Sunkoshi River and direct it into the Bagmati River to irrigate 122,000 hectares of farmland in Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi and Bara districts in the southern plains. While the 13.3 km long tunnel will be completed within the next two years, the Irrigation Department estimates that the overall project will be fully operational only by 2029. The construction of other structures under the project has not started yet. The project proposes to construct a 12-meter-high barrage across the Sunkoshi River and divert a discharge of 67 cubic meters per second through the tunnel to Kusumtar located in Ward 6 of Kamalamai Municipality. A powerhouse will be built on the Marin River to generate 28.62 megawatts of electricity. A Nepali and Indian joint venture company has been awarded the contract to build the dam and powerhouse of the project. The joint venture (JV) of Nepal's Raman Construction and India's Patel Engineering has won the contract to build the Sunkoshi-Marin diversion dam and power plant for Rs 12.5 billion. The project has already given a letter of Intent (LOI) to the JV company. The contract agreement will be signed within two months, according to the project.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 1,100 per tola in the domestic market on Friday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the yellow bullion is being traded at Rs 105, 800 per tola today. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 106, 900 per tola on Thursday. Meanwhile, the tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 105, 300 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has remained unchanged and is being traded at Rs 1, 380 per tola today.

While the drive for the merger in the banking sector seems to be gradually settling down with the conclusion of some big mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the consolidation in the insurance sector is in full swing. In the last one year, a series of merger agreements have been signed among both, life insurance and non-life insurance companies. The merger momentum in the Nepali insurance sector intensified after the Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) increased the minimum paid-up capital requirements for insurers of both categories. The authority has increased the paid-up capital of non-life insurance companies to Rs 2 billion while it is Rs 5 billion for life insurance companies. The authority has been pushing for consolidation in the Nepali insurance sector since the new Chairman Surya Silwal took charge of NIA. Of the 19 insurance companies involved in the merger process, six companies have merged to become three and have started their integrated business while 13 others are still in the process of completing their merger process. According to NIA, 10 non-life insurance companies have signed merger MoUs to become five, while nine life insurance companies have also signed merger deals to become four entities. So far, two life insurance companies and 4 non-life insurance companies have completed the merger process and started their integration business. The remaining seven life insurance companies and six non-life insurance companies have not been able to start integrated businesses yet. There have been two successful mergers in the non-life insurance sector in the past year. In July 2022, Himalayan General Insurance and Everest Insurance merged to form Himalayan Everest Insurance Insurance Co. Ltd. Similarly, in October, Sanima General Insurance and General Insurance Company merged to form Sanima GIC Insurance Ltd. The first merger among the life insurance companies took place in the last week of December 2022 when two life insurance companies - Surya Life Insurance and Jyoti Life Insurance - completed their merger process and started integrated business as Suryajyoti Life Insurance Company. While other companies have signed merger agreements, they are yet to take their merger process to a conclusion. Among the non-life insurance companies, Premier Insurance and Siddharth Insurance, Sagarmatha Insurance and Lumbini Insurance, and United Insurance and Azod Insurance have yet to complete their merger process. Ajod Insurance signed a merger agreement with United Insurance on January 11. The Ajod-United merger initiative came after Ajod's unsuccessful merger attempt with Prabhu Insurance. In the life insurance segment, the merger of Prime Life Insurance, Gurans Life Insurance, and Union Life Insurance is yet to be completed, though the companies have said that they are in the final stage. These three insurance companies on January 16 have signed a final merger agreement to form Himalayan Life Insurance Company Limited. Two other mergers in the life insurance sector - between Mahalakshmi Life Insurance and Prabhu Life Insurance, and Reliance Life Insurance and Sanima Life Insurance - are yet to be completed. Currently, there are 19 life insurance and 20 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal. After the completion of ongoing merger processes, the number of life and non-life insurance companies will come down to 15 each. According to Shambharaj Lamichhane, Deputy Director of NIA, the merger process of all these companies will be completed by mid-March 2023. "As mergers are a new practice in the insurance sector, there could be some delay in starting the integrated business," he said. Mahalakshmi Life Insurance CEO Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai said that the merger in the insurance sector is a big challenge. "The valuation of the merging entities needs to be carried out by bringing actuaries from India. That is why the integrated business of many companies get delayed," he said.

The export of gold jewelry, which had increased in the past few years, has decreased significantly in the current fiscal year. The latest foreign trade statistics of the Department of Customs (DoC) show the export of gold jewelry declined by a whopping 70 percent in the first six months of FY 2022/23. According to DoC data, Nepal exported gold jewelry worth Rs 105.1 million in the first half of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 344.9 million in the same period of the last fiscal year. Nepali traders have been exporting gold ornaments to the US, Australia and Hong Kong in recent years. A total of 38 kg of gold jewelry worth Rs 387.1 million were exported in FY 2020/21. It increased to 61 kg in FY 2021/22 when Nepal exported gold jewelry worth Rs 532.7 million. In this fiscal, Nepal has exported gold jewelry worth Rs 84.1 million to the US and Rs 20.9 million to Australia. According to Manik Ratna Shakya, President of Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the export of jewelry has been affected especially due to the shortage of raw gold in the country. With forex reserves depleting, the Nepal Rastra Bank in the last fiscal year resorted to slashing the gold import limits from daily 20 kg to 10 kg. Bullion traders, however, said that 10 kg of gold is not enough to meet the domestic demand. "There is not enough gold available in the market to produce jewelry for export purposes," said Shakya. According to Shakya, when the import limit was reduced, importers of precious metals were told that jewelry exporters would be allowed to import gold separately or special arrangements would be made for them. " However, no such arrangement was made," said Shakya, adding, "As a result, the export of gold jewelry has been badly affected." Bullion traders said the demand for gold jewelry is huge among Nepalis living abroad. "The demand for original jewelry from Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) has been increasing. However, the demand could not be fulfilled due to a lack of gold," said Shakya. "If the export of gold jewelry is increased, the country's foreign exchange income would also increase." Gold imports down by 50 percent With the central bank reducing the import limit, the overall import of yellow metal has also decreased by 50 percent. Nepal has imported gold worth Rs 10.95 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year. Such import during the same period of the last fiscal was Rs 22.03 billion. According to Customs Department data, a total of 1,516 kgs of gold has been imported in this fiscal compared to 3,188 kgs in the last fiscal year.