Nepalese officials and a Chinese company are accused of embezzling $74 million during the construction of Pokhara Airport
Nepal’s top anti-graft body has filed corruption charges against 55 senior officials — including five former ministers — and a Chinese company, alleging they embezzled millions of dollars during the construction of Pokhara International Airport, a high-profile project built under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority said in a charge sheet filed on Sunday that Nepalese officials and China CAMC Engineering, the contractor, colluded to inflate costs, breach procurement laws and compromise construction quality. The agency alleges the group misused 8.36 billion Nepalese rupees ($74.34 million) by raising the airport’s approved cost estimate from $145 million to $215.95 million “with malicious intent.”
The airport was financed through a $215.96 million loan from China’s Export-Import Bank and inaugurated in January 2023. A Nepalese consulting firm had determined the project could be completed for $145 million, but the price was increased during bilateral negotiations between Nepalese officials and the Chinese contractor, the charge sheet says. The anti-graft agency said only Chinese companies were allowed to participate in the bidding process, violating Nepal’s public procurement law.
“They inflated the estimate abnormally and made excessive payment,” the filing states.
Among those charged are former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat and four former tourism ministers — the late Post Bahadur Bogati, Bhim Prasad Acharya, Deepak Chandra Amatya and Ram Kumar Shrestha. Mahat, a senior figure in the Nepali Congress, has served multiple times as finance minister.
Bogati, a former Maoist guerrilla, was a close aide to former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and served as the Communist Party’s chief whip in the parliament after the party ended its decade-long Maoist insurgency.
Acharya, a secretary in the Communist Party of Nepal led by recently dethroned Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, had been preparing to run for vice chairman at the party’s 10th general convention scheduled to begin Dec. 13.
Retired government secretary Ram Kumar Shrestha was appointed tourism minister in the 2013 election government after the first Constituent Assembly was dissolved without completing its work on the constitution.
Also charged are ten retired government secretaries and Nepal’s civil aviation chief, Pradeep Adhikari, who was arrested days earlier in an unrelated corruption case. A special court is hearing the allegations against him. The remaining accused were not taken into custody when the case was filed.
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The airport — promoted as a regional hub — has struggled since opening. Built without a detailed business plan, it has effectively been downgraded to domestic operations. International airlines have declined to fly there, citing air safety concerns and low passenger demand.
Political controversy deepened after a parliamentary Public Accounts Committee investigation found widespread irregularities and alleged billions of rupees were misused. The committee forwarded its findings to the anti-graft body, urging prosecutors to pursue charges.
Gen Z protest organizers, who have staged months of anti-corruption demonstrations, welcomed the latest action. “It is really exciting news for us. We expect many more such actions,” Pradip Gyawali, a movement leader, said. “We wish such action should be taken at one in a day.”
Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal said the government was committed to acting against corruption “as per spirit of Gen Z movement,” even as it prepares for elections. “The government is working hard to fulfil the aspirations of the younger generation — ensure good governance by ending corruption,” he said at a public event in Kathmandu.
Yuliya Varava