High-level corruption exposed: Five ex-ministers, top bureaucrats indicted over China-funded Pokhara airport
Kathmandu – On December 7, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) brought corruption charges before the Special Court against 55 people, including five former cabinet ministers, several government secretaries, and a China‑backed construction firm. The case stems from irregularities tied to the Pokhara Regional International Airport project that was funded by China’s Exim Bank and cost roughly US$215.96 million.
The Pokhara airport has long been a source of controversy, and the CIAA’s filing is part of a broader wave of probes into Nepali projects involving Chinese contractors. The alleged losses from the scandal are estimated at about US$74.34 million (NPR 8.36 billion). Among those named are the late Post Bahadur Bogati, Ram Sharan Mahat, Deepak Chandra Amatya, Ram Kumar Shrestha, and Bhim Prasad Acharya. Mahat, a former Nepali Congress finance minister, and the other four were former tourism ministers. The list extends to former secretary‑level officials such as Ramkrishna Timilsena, Sushil Ghimire, Suman Sharma, Bheshraj Sharma, Sureshman Shrestha, and Madhukumar Marasini, as well as former Civil Aviation Authority director‑general Pradip Adhikari and ex‑CIAA chief Murari Bhandari, who face related charges in another heliport case. The Chinese construction company China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd. and its top brass—chairman Wang Bo and regional general manager Liu Shengcheng—are also defendants.
All are accused of overspending on contractors, inflating project costs. While the airport opened on January 1, 2023, Pokhara still struggles to attract major carriers. Only Himalaya Airlines, a joint venture between Nepal and China, has operated the weekly Pokhara‑Lhasa service since March. Earlier, a house‐of‑representatives sub‑committee flagged construction irregularities and tax‑exemption abuses. In May, a Public Accounts Committee sub‑committee underscored various missteps. Additionally, a government‑appointed high‑level study committee pointed out that the airport’s physical and navigational design imposes load restrictions on medium‑haul flights, raising operational cost concerns for airlines.
“It has been understood that the airport requires a five per cent climb gradient for the Missed Approach Procedure Design Gradient, which is considered high for aircraft from a technical standpoint,” the report said. “As a result, medium‑haul jet aircraft are subject to a load penalty of four to six tonnes upon arrival, and weight restrictions also apply during departure due to the available field length, thereby affecting passenger and cargo‑carrying capacity,” the report added. The committee, led by then‑Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supply Anil Kumar Sinha—formerly a Supreme Court judge—stated that the 2,500‑metre runway limits airline operations, especially under high temperatures, heavy aircraft weights, or low‑pressure weather.
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