ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs has asked the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) to take disciplinary action against the Power Division for allegedly giving misleading information during an inquiry related to the ACSR Bunting Conductor tender and the World Bank-funded 765kV Dasu-Islamabad Transmission Line Project (Lot-1).
During its recent meeting, the Committee was told that records for a special audit into the ACSR Bunting Conductor case were submitted to the Auditor General’s office on June 4, 2025. The Committee, chaired by Senator Saif Ullah Abro, also asked the EAD and the Power Division to contact the two Chinese companies involved—M/s Henan Tong-DA Cable Co. Ltd. and M/s Jiangsu Zhongtian Technology Co. Ltd.—to confirm whether they had submitted any Power of Attorney documents for verification.
Additional Secretary Power Division Imtiaz Hussain Shah told the Committee on June 30, 2025, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had confirmed no Power of Attorney was submitted by either company to the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing. He said the Embassy also stated that such verification is no longer required through diplomatic channels since Pakistan joined the Apostille Convention in November 2024.
On the 765kV Dasu-Islamabad Transmission Line Project (Lot-1), the Power Division informed the Committee that an internal inquiry led by GM NGC Muhammad Mustafa had recommended referring the case to the World Bank. The Bank later confirmed that the procurement process followed its guidelines. However, the Committee raised concerns about a possible cover-up. Officials from the Power Division failed to show a supplementary report that was said to be the basis for communicating with the World Bank. Instead, they presented a letter written by a former senior official, which the Committee believes may have been used to hide irregularities.
The Committee asked for all related correspondence and clarified that under World Bank procurement rules, the borrower, in this case Pakistan, is fully responsible for procurement.
Officials from the Power Division said no formal inquiry report was ever submitted by former caretaker Energy Minister Muhammad Ali, who had led the internal investigation. They said they had only heard of an unsigned report, which was never officially shared.
The Committee expressed surprise that the former Minister had presented findings at a Senate meeting on February 20, 2024, without a written report. It asked the Power Division to find and submit even an unsigned copy of the inquiry and asked EAD to take disciplinary action against the Power Division for giving incorrect information.
The Committee also asked EAD to seek explanation for how the former caretaker Minister and the then Secretary of the Power Division, both members of the inquiry committee, could act in a way that may have hidden important details about the financial and procedural issues in power sector tenders.
In a related issue, the Committee addressed the recovery of Rs 1.282 billion from a contractor working on the 765kV Dasu–Islamabad Grid Station (Lot-IV). It said the NTDC Board had no authority to conduct its own inquiry and noted that earlier discussions had confirmed that the disputed amount should not have been part of the bid evaluation, as stated in the bidding documents.
The Committee instructed EAD to send a formal request to the Public Accounts Committee to ensure that the Rs 1.282 billion is recovered from the lowest bidder, as recommended earlier.
