The manufacture and sale of pressure cookers has dropped dramatically in the past year since the Maoists started using them for explosives and the security forces restricted their availability in the marketplace.

Pressure cooker factories in Birganj, Butwal and Biratnagar have started closing down. Two factories in Birganj that used to produce 360 cookers a day and employed 70 workers have closed down. Birendra Kumar Jaiswal of United Industries says he stands to loose millions in investment.

Many downstream industries that supplied raw materials to the cooker factories are also going out of business. The only place where cookers can still be sold is in Kathmandu, everywhere else there are restrictions. In the absence of pressure cookers, fuel consumption has gone up.