Kathmandu: Nepal has been witnessing a series of corruption allegations in recent years, particularly in projects involving Chinese contractors or suppliers. The latest controversy concerns the billing system that Nepal Telecom (NT), a company in which the Nepali government holds a majority stake, is preparing to procure.
On March 18 this year, Nepal Telecom invited bids to purchase a new billing system estimated to cost around NPR 5 billion. Of the two Chinese companies that participated, only Huawei was deemed technically qualified. This led to allegations that the specifications had been prepared in a way that only Huawei could meet. Huawei is also handling the core network of Nepal Telecom.
Whale Cloud — another Chinese firm — had competed against Huawei for the contract but was disqualified during the technical evaluation.
Although Huawei’s financial proposal was scheduled to be opened on September 24, 2025, the process was postponed indefinitely after Jagadish Kharel assumed office as Minister of Communications and Information Technology on September 22, citing special circumstances.
On October 30, the Ministry formed a study committee to investigate the allegations, headed by former government secretary Maniram Gelal, after questions arose over why Huawei was the only bidder to clear the technical evaluation.
On November 20, the committee submitted its report to Minister Kharel. Online Khabar, a popular Nepali news website, reported the same day — citing sources — that the bidding documents had been prepared in a way that favoured a specific model of a specific company, referring to Huawei.
“While studying the tender documents and other files regarding Nepal Telecom’s billing system, it is clear that the specifications were prepared to suit the equipment of a specific model from a specific company. This has been clearly stated in the report,” the website quoted an unnamed Nepal Telecom official as saying.
However, Minister Kharel, while receiving the report, stated that he would not interfere with or obstruct the procurement process, appearing to give the green light to proceed with opening Huawei’s long-postponed financial bid.
Earlier, in June this year, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the anti-graft body, prosecuted 18 people, including then–Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sangita Pahadi, former Managing Director Sunil Paudel, and 16 others, over alleged irregularities in procuring the company’s billing system and annual maintenance contract.
The officials were accused of causing a huge loss to the public utility by awarding a contract to Asia Info Linkage Technologies (China) Inc., which had allegedly quoted abnormally high prices for its Veris Billing system. With that system now outdated, Nepal Telecom is seeking to procure a new one. Now, the new bidding process is also courting controversy as only the Huawei qualified during the technical evaluation. It will receive the contract if its financial proposal is deemed acceptable. Some critics have also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, given Huawei’s involvement in both the billing system and the core network of the company.
This is not the only case in which controversies involving alleged corruption by Chinese companies have surfaced in Nepal.
In May this year, a parliamentary subcommittee also uncovered alleged corruption worth billions of rupees in the construction of an international airport in Pokhara, a western tourism city of the country.
A subcommittee under the Public Accounts Committee of the now-dissolved House of Representatives highlighted several irregularities and questionable tax exemptions provided to the construction company.
The airport was built by China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd at a cost of USD 215.96 million, funded by China’s EXIM Bank. However, the project’s failure to generate expected revenue has become a major concern for the Nepali government, which must now repay the Chinese loan.
Nearly three years after its inauguration on January 1, 2023, the Pokhara International Airport in the western tourist city continues to struggle to attract international airlines, raising fears that the multi-million-dollar project could become a major financial burden.
Currently, only Himalaya Airlines — a Nepal–China joint-venture airline — is operating scheduled flights, with one weekly flight on the Pokhara–Lhasa route since March this year.
(IANS)
