History of NRDCL
Until 1979, harvesting of timber was carried out by allotting working-coupes to contractors through open auctions. This practice was found to be unsustainable as the contractors operated the areas with the objective of making the maximum profit and without paying any regard to the scientific operation and management of forest. In order to institutionalize the practice of scientifi
c management of forest resources on sustainable basis, a Logging Division was established under the Forest Department in 1979 to harvest timber departmentally after the logging operation programs were nationalized. However, the departmental operation had a severe drawback due to lack of financial autonomy as the Division had to rely completely on government financing through the normal annual budget; it’s earning being directly remitted to the Ministry of Finance, as a result of which "plough-back mechanism" could not be applied for the revenue earned. Therefore, to overcome the departmental operational deficiencies, the Logging Division was upgraded to a Corporation known as Bhutan Logging Corporation (BLC) in 1984 under the Royal Charter in order to carry out part of its mandate and, at the same time, be able to:
Plough back the generated funds for the all round development of the Forest Management Units,
Function along commercial line and bring about efficiency in operation,
Create an organization of competent foresters and technicians, and
In spite of its commercial nature, be sensitive and concerned about the environmental needs in the units. In 1996, BLC was upgraded to Forestry Development Corporation Limited (FDCL) and entrusted with commercial mandates. In November 2007, FDCL was restructured as Natural Resources Development Corporation Limited (NRDCL) as per the Executive Order of the Prime Minister vide letter No PM/01/07/571 dated 7th November 2007 with mandate to manage sand, stone and other natural resources in addition to timber.NRDCL is owned by Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), which is a 100% Government owned Investment Company and is governed by the Articles of Incorporation under the revised Companies Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan 2000.
