KATHMANDU, Nov 13: The government on Monday rolled back from its earlier decision to award Budhigandaki Hydropower Project to a Chinese company nearly after six months.
Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Kamal Thapa has said that the agreement with the China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd (CGGC) has now been scrapped by the Monday’s cabinet meeting. “The decision was of irregularity and whimsical and has now been scrapped as per the recommendation by the parliamentary committees,” Thapa tweeted after the Monday’s meeting.
Govt moves to award Budhigandaki Project to Chinese firm
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU, signed between Nepal government and Chinese company CGGC on awarding hydropower project of 1,200 MW received a wide criticism from academia and also the parliamentary committees.
A joint meeting of parliament’s Agriculture and Water Resources Committee and Finance Committee of Parliament had directed the government to scrap the decision on September 26 saying that the decision was made by breaching the existing regulations, Besides the company to which the project has been awarded hasa bad reputation.
Erstwhile Minister for Energy Janardan Sharma and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for project development in the presence of then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
