Nepal refuses China’s offer to fund multi-billion dollar power project

The contract to build the Budhi Gandaki hydroelectricity project was awarded to a Chinese firm by the previous Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led dispensation in 2016.

The Nepal government has said “no” to China to build the Budhi Gandaki hydroelectricity project that was awarded to a Chinese firm by the previous Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led dispensation in 2016.

The Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led government, without any tendering, had decided to award the contract to a Chinese firm, which led to a huge controversy in Nepal.(AFP/File Photo)

The previous government had also asked China to list the project under the its Belt and Road Initiative, of which Nepal is a part.

The decision by the current government on Tuesday came as relief to New Delhi as it fears that investment in Beijing would surpass in Nepal and would lessen India’s clout in Kathmandu.

The Prachanda-led government, without any tendering, had decided to award the contract to China Gezhouba Group Company to build the scheme under the engineering-procurement-construction-and-financing (EPCF) model which led to a huge controversy in Nepal.

Nepal’s energy minister Barsha Man Pun on Tuesday announced that the government will call for global tenders to develop the Budhi Gandaki hydroelectricity that is expected to generate 1,200 MW electricity. The total cost of the project is around $2.73 billion.