ISLAMABAD: The subcommittee of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Thursday termed the lowest bid of a joint venture (JV) amounting to Rs170 billion for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Tranche-III project “fake”, and criticised the National Highway Authority (NHA) for awarding the contracts to a disqualified company and for its continued non-cooperation with the parliamentary body.

A meeting of the subcommittee, chaired by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, concluded that the “NXCC bid is fake” and formally recommended immediate action against the company.

The committee held both the secretary communications and the NHA chairman responsible for the irregularities, while reiterating that “big contracts are being continuously awarded to the same company, raising serious concerns of institutional complicity”.

The session was attended by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro and Senator Saifullah Abro.

Senators slam NHA for awarding major contracts to a disqualified firm and withholding documents

The committee reviewed the terms of reference (ToR) to probe the Tranche-III Rajanpur-D.G. Khan-D.I. Khan CAREC project and examine how the main company in the JV — NXCC — managed to clear arbitration in the Lodhran-Multan project, despite being a non-performing company.

The JV, which won the bids of all four lots of the CAREC Tranche-III project, has three construction firms — NXCC, Rustam Associates and Dynamic Contractors.

The committee expressed its anger over the absence of Minister for Communi­cations Abdul Aleem Khan, the secretary communication and NHA Chairman Sheheryar Sultan, terming their non-participation contempt of parliament.

During the briefing, NHA officials admitted that a letter had been written to the company (JV) seeking its financial statements and statistics, but the contractor companies flatly refused to provide them.

Senator Ghumro questioned: “If NHA did not have technical and financial documents, how was the contract awarded in the first place?”

Visibly irked, Senator Abro remarked: “This is a matter of the fate of our country. NXCC is mocking the government of Pakistan.”

The subcommittee also raised concerns over alleged illegal tax exemptions granted to companies working on the Gilgit-Shandur road project.

It recommended that the NHA take immediate notice of these exemptions and coordinate with the Federal Board of Revenue for investigation.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025