A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of th require ments f or the degree of Master of Dusiness Administration .

Research Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1992.

As in ma n y cleve 1opLng co un t r i E~ s , Nepa 1 h a s seve r a l urban i:U~ea rJ wh .Lc h lit.' <' l1 <1v i1HJ ; 1 h i \ Jll ~11 ·0\.J lll 1:;1l. e. Co n11>.i. 11c~d wit h a IJack l oac.l i11 available hous ing and the obvious low developed organizational planning of lmplementa llon a nd diffj.cult control of construction act ivities , t his re s ult s in a cons truct ion materials industry which is far Crom op L i m<ll. .i.n tl'!E' l onq run. Marry materials are imported a nd . mu ch of the loca l 11 at u r al resou1·cc-~s are w:;ed .Ln an in e [ [ ic i e ut way~ oft e n ca u si ng unrcp l acc~ablc clamage to the environrncnl of the count ry . F ir t~d clay bric k i s l: he tnost commo nly usecl constr uction mat er i al in t he urban area s J.n1 t i i; p ro cl11c e cl :i.n a way \.Jh i c 11 re 1 i es on t h e clw.Lncl :I .i ll ~J rc ~~;o ut~ <' l ' !; ;):; rtJc· ·I \.J()(HI . Cn l c i.1.1111 !.ii 1 i.c ilt.0 !Jr.i e lm ;n·n t .i.ll no\.J not kn o \.Jn .Ln Nr-:11<1.I. . 'J' IH~ y 1.u.; 0! 111uc l1 ].(:s rJ nn e rq y i n pr oclucL .i.on t han the firecl c la y IJL·icks aucl wu ul cl b e a good s ub[;tituto produc l. rrhe :t arE.{u2022} likely t o face minimum diffic ulty on i ntegration in t l1l':! exi:~t ing 111e lhods of co ustructio n. Nepa l h as the required r e sources for the production of these br i clzs, a l t llou<Jl1 not ln the most favorable loca lit ies . A feasibility study on the es tablishment of a calcium silicate brj_ck production plant Has undertalrnn by a UK cons ultancy in 1 978/ 79 . Their advice was. at the time negative . However, that study could ba considered partly bia ssed. Since 1979 , many changes have occurred whii::h made it worth to cons ider again the I eas ibi lit y of the introduction of thi s n ew production plant . The fact t hat Nepal is a developing country creates i ts own factors which influe nce all t he cons iderations one s hould make when executing a feasibility study . The u s ua l starting point of s upply a nd de mand Eor instance , has a compl ete l y di f f erent meaning for Ne pal compared with a country where there is a an established market economy. Covering the differe n t considerations and exploring the different resources , this r esearch s tudy s hows t hat although the r e is the pre-requi site r equ ireme nt of ensuring a supply of lime , t here are optio ns wh ich would make a plan L feasib l e ancl allow product i on of bricks at a competitive price . Provided a lime plant is constructed which cou l d s upply the brick plant , a strategy could be deve loped which limits the required i nvestme nt capital and which makes it attract ive for donor or aid agencies to assist J11 financi ng the est abl ishrnent. Thi s res earch s tudy prov ides most of the knowledge required for ass e ssing t h e fea s ibil ity and s hows t he points which need s pec ial attention whe n considering a transfer of the required technol ogy .