GMR Group’s office attacked in Kathmandu

Kathmandu: A group of unidentified men on Tuesday hurled a petrol bomb at the Kathmandu-based office of Indian infrastructure major GMR Group, which is developing major hydropower projects in Nepal, amid the ongoing Madhesi stir.

Additional Inspector General of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s office Pratap Singh Thapa said window panes of the building were shattered but there was no casualty, Nepal news website MyRepublica reported.

The attack on the Chakupat-based office came amid a tense situation in the country over the protests by Madhesis—largely of Indian origin—over the country’s new constitution.

Major Indian firms in Nepal have been hit by the ongoing blockade by Madhesis of key border trade points with India, and the firms are struggling to export their products. With the prolonged agitation, subsidiaries of Indian companies such as Dabur, Unilever, and ITC India have been operating below their capacity and facing hurdles in exporting their products.

Madhesis, who have strong cultural and family bonds with Indian, have been protesting in the southern plains of Nepal over their demands including re-demarcation of provinces, fixing of electoral constituencies on the basis of population and proportional representation. So far 50 people have died in the four-month-long agitation.

The GMR Group is developing the Upper Karnali (900 megawatt) and Upper Marshyangdi (600 megawatt) hydropower projects in Nepal. The Indian firm has already started preparatory works to develop Upper Karnali hydropower project after signing a project development agreement with Investment Board Nepal.

GMR Group