The Hetauda Textile Industry is to shut down on 12 February?RIP. The government took the decision to close down the ailing mill and release Rs 250 million to pay overdue employee salaries and allowances. The factory was set up in mid-1975 with Chinese aid but has faced huge losses, largely due to cheap Chinese and Indian imports that have almost destroyed the Nepali textile industry. Its accumulated losses add up to Rs 230.5 million, about half of which was incurred during fiscal year 1998-99, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF). The MoF publication on the performance of public enterprises adds that HTL loans and other liabilities in the same year amounted to Rs 148.6 million. Finally, the company was unable to pay employee salaries and even its electricity and water bills. The closure will render over 1,071 unemployed.