Nepal army road project goes to Chinese, not Indian, firm

17 Nov 2022 CW Team

The Nepal army has awarded the contract for the sixth package of the Kathmandu-Terai-Madhesh Expressway to China First Highway Engineering, ignoring the claims of an Indian firm. The development comes less than 10 days before general elections in the country.

On November 11, the Nepal army, which is in charge of the project, issued a letter of intent to China First Highway Engineering, a firm that was earlier disqualified in the tender but later made a backdoor entry, reportedly despite lacking technical expertise. The companies whose proposals have been rejected, including India's Afcons Infrastructure, are preparing to approach the courts against the decision, according to The Economic Times.

The matter may now be taken up with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The nature of the bidding process was less than transparent and it had raised eyebrows after the Chinese company was declared the successful bidder, the ET report says.

The construction was launched in 2017 and the new deadline to complete the project is July 2024. The Chinese company submitted a proposal of 18.786 billion Nepali rupees, while India's Afcons Infrastructure submitted a bid for 19.99 billion Nepali rupees.

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