Nepal's government has extended domestic cement grades to three grades by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM). Grades 43 and 53 have been added to the 33-grade cement, overturning the previous law that prohibited domestic manufacturers from labelling their cement products higher than grade 33.

Nepal's domestic cement producers had been claiming that their cement met international quality standards for grades 43 and 53 and the change in regulations should lessen the dependence on Indian cement imports.

Nepal imported Indian cement worth NPR24bn (US$218.1m) in the last fiscal year and fell to NPR12bn in the fist 10 months of the current fiscal year, according to official data.