25/05/2025
Is the Pokhara Int'l Airport in Nepal actually debt-trapped by China?
For over the four decades, Nepal has aspired to establish an international airport in Pokhara with the objective of launching this beautiful city at global level and making it a global tourist destination.
Unfortunately, the project was delayed due to political instability, bureaucratic challenges and financial difficulties.
The newly built Pokhara International Airport has been majorly financed by Chinese firms/banks and constructed by Chinese companies and this was the first step of sphere of influence of China in Nepal.
Chinese companies CAMC Engineering has constructed the airport to maximize the profits and limit the Nepalese oversight by repeatedly dictated business terms as highlighted by an investigation of New York Times.
How the Dominance Started
✅ In 2016, China and Nepal entered into 20 years deals for $216 million for construction of Pokhara Airport; one-fourth of the money would be interest-free loan and rest the nation has borrowed at 2% interest rate. The repayment is scheduled to start from year 2026.
✅ The loan agreement allowed only the Chinese firms to bid for the work. CAMC’s winning the bid for $305 million, almost twice what Nepal has estimated the airport cost would be. Later the price was discounted to $216 million by the Chinese firm.
✅ The Pokhara airport served as a prime example of the associated with importing China’s infrastructure at all cost-growth model, which disproportionately benefited Chinese businesses at the expense of the borrowing nation.
✅ Additionally, the airport has yet to attract the international flights, casting doubt on its ability to repay the loans.
✅ Further, the budget was expected $2.8 million to hire international consultants to make sure the CAMC was abiding the international construction standards which was later on reduced to merely $10,000 that create doubts over the quality and standards of the raw materials used for the construction.
Mr. Murari Gautam, one of the supervisors overseeing the project highlighted few of the red flags. In his interview, he informed the key positions were vacant and it was filled by newly qualified personnel having rare any experience.
The airport has been made at higher cost and it was expected by the Chinese firm that Nepal would be able to repay its loan from the profit itself.
However, it has failed to attract any international flights so far. That forecast, however, was based on an estimated 2,80,000 international passenger travelling through the airport. As of now, there are no international flights.
India has denied to serve international flights at Pokhara airport citing several concerns.
The Pokhara International Airport appears to be a diplomatic victory for China in Nepal as it has been largely financed and built up by the Chinese firms.
