Ministry of Industry (MoI) has said that the earthquakes of April 15 and May 12 have not made any major damage on industries.

The ministry has not received any report of industries suffering significant damage, according to Minister for Industry Mahesh Basnet. "Except some minor cracks, all the industries across the country are in good condition," he added.

Minister Basnet said MoI has deputed 50 staff members across the country to assess she situation of industries in the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks, which have claimed more than 8,000 lives so far.

According to news reports, Hetauda Cement Industry and few other industries which were operating from old structures have suffered damage. "But we haven't received report of significant damage. Most of the industries are continuing production as usual," said Basnet. "The teams, which we have deputed, will maintain record of damages suffered by industries due to the earthquake."

Meanwhile, MoI has said it would do the needful for preventing black marketing of construction materials needed for reconstruction of various structures after the earthquake.

Thousands of private homes, buildings, apartments, religious and cultural heritages, walls and bridges, among other structures, have suffered damage due to the earthquake. Once the situation becomes normal, demand for construction materials like bricks, cements and steel, among others, is expected to increase significantly.

Minister Basnet said MoI has already directed traders of construction materials not to raise price of construction materials. "We will intensify our monitoring and inspection to make sure that manufacturers of construction materials do not compromise on quality and do not raise price," he added.

He also said the government was shifting its focus from distribution of relief materials to reconstruction of damaged structures. "We have distributed relief to the quake-hit people in the first phase. Now, our priority will be on rebuilding," he added.

Meanwhile, various industries sold Rs 40 million worth of dry food to the government. The government bought dry foods like noodles, biscuits, beaten rice and puffed rice, among others, from Pokhara Noodles, Jagadamba Foods, Smart Food, CG Foods, Pashupati Biscuit, Karmacharya, Nebico and Asian Foods, among other industries, to distribute relief to earthquake victims.

"Soon after the quake hit the country, the government urged various food industries to provide food commodities to the government. They supplied food commodities to the government from April 25 to May 3," said Basnet.