ISLAMABAD: In a partial reversal of its earlier decision, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday ended Engro Vopak Terminal Ltd’s (EVTL) exclusivity while allowing an uncompetitive 30-year lease extension and ordered an inquiry into the delayed process that left the government with no viable alternative.

The ECC meeting, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, also approved more than Rs9.557 billion in supplementary grants for the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control, only days after the federal budget was presented in the National Assembly.

Informed sources said the ECC allowed the continuation of Engro Vopak Terminal’s lease for another 30 years “without competitive procurement only because the government was left with no option”.

A refusal to extend the lease at this stage would have caused disruption to bulk chemical and LPG handling and storage, while a competitive process for new investors could have taken six months to a year. EVTL handles more than 55pc of the country’s chemical and LPG requirements.

An official said a better deal had been negotiated with Engro Vopak, ending its exclusive rights and allowing any other investor to build a petrochemical complex.

He said questions raised by Minister for Investment Qaiser Ahmad Shaikh had also been responded to, and the ECC decided to investigate why the process was not initiated in advance as required under the legal framework, including the agreement with Engro Vopak, leading to a stage where disruption to chemical handling had become economically unviable.

“Responsibility has to be fixed,” a participant told Dawn.

“Many questions still remain and mostly relate to legal issues,” said the official, as the Ministry of Finance again kept the ECC decision on Vopak secret while releasing other decisions.

The ECC approved a request of the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control for a supplementary grant of Rs2.193bn for the Nadra-TDP-ERP/KP-CCSDP project — a World Bank-funded scheme meant to continue operations of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Citizen-Centred Service Delivery Project for child health, vital registrations and emergency safety nets.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2026