Godawari Marble Factory in Ruins

Godawari Marble Factory, once a thriving industry in Nepal, now lies in ruins. The factory, which was shut down a decade ago due to environmental concerns, remains abandoned and unused.

Ramanand Chaudhary, a former employee of the factory, still visits the site, remembering the good old days when the factory was operational. ‘We used to work 24 hours a day, six days a week,’ he recalls. ‘The factory used to export marble to India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.’

Another former employee, Hem Bahadur Gurung, also reminisces about the past. ‘We used to load four trucks with marble every day,’ he says. ‘But now, the machines are not working, and it would be too expensive to repair them.’

Despite the closure of Godawari Marble Factory, Nepal still has a significant number of mining and mineral industries. According to the Department of Mines and Geology, there are 63 types of minerals found in Nepal, and 171 licenses have been issued for exploration and excavation.

Narayan Banskota, an information officer at the department, says that most of the licenses have been issued for the excavation of limestone. ‘We issue licenses for exploration and excavation after conducting studies and research,’ he explains. ‘But we lack the human resources to conduct these studies, so we have to rely on foreign institutions.’

Banskota also notes that the mining industry in Nepal has a lot of potential for revenue generation. ‘We can reduce our imports by prioritizing the excavation of minerals like granite, dolomite, and slate,’ he suggests. ‘However, the excavation of metallic minerals is a complex process that requires a lot of time and investment.’

The lack of human resources and infrastructure is a major challenge for the mining industry in Nepal. ‘We need to train our staff and provide them with the necessary skills to conduct research and exploration,’ Banskota says. ‘But it’s difficult to attract foreign-educated professionals to work in Nepal due to the lack of facilities and services.’