"Nepal cable car case: Calling for a full compliance investigation", 6 April 2026

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) has released an Assessment Report on the Nepal Pathivara cable car complaint, and transferred it to compliance appraisal. The complaint relates to a $156,746 International Finance Corporation (IFC) advisory project to IME Cable Car, a subsidiary of IME Global – a major conglomerate in Nepal.

The Assessment Report details complainants’ allegations that the IFC-backed project failed to uphold their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent as Indigenous Peoples, and furthermore, encroach on their cultural heritage in the sacred Mukkumlung mountain. The report also summarises the complainants’ concerns about the impacts of the project on the forest, wildlife, flora and fauna, the lack of project information disclosure, and the violent repression they have faced for opposing the project.

Despite millions of dollars of support from the IFC over the years and still being an active IFC client, IME Group refused to talk to the CAO or participate in the assessment process, meaning the CAO has had to transfer the complaint to compliance appraisal.

“It is essential that our case now proceeds to full compliance investigation,” says Advocate Shankar Limbu of the Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP), …

“This project has been shrouded in secrecy,” says Prabindra Shakya of Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE), advisor to the complainants. “It is time for the IFC to disclose publicly all documents relating to its involvement with the IME Group, to show how and why it did not apply its Performance Standards that should have required protection and respect for Indigenous Peoples.”…