Official-contractor nexus controls public procurement bidding in Nepal, causing infinite losses

The Supreme Court of Nepal, on December 21, 2020, called for tenders for the construction of its new building. With everyone’s eyes on the tender, the criteria to be eligible were quite tough. The tender had asked contractors who had worked on a double-basement building as it set a budget of Rs 4.20 billion for the building’s construction.

These tenders are normally applied by foreign companies after they get certification from the Nepali embassy where the foreign contractor is from. However, in this case, this was made ineligible, as the tender call disallowed a Nepali-foreign JV company to apply.