ISLAMABAD: After a thorough probe into the Rs170 billion road project, the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division has recommended blacklisting a joint venture of the three firms, who were awarded a project by the National Highway Authority in violation of the rules.

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) Tranche-III project was under scrutiny in several parliamentary committees for collusive practices and ghost tendering, among other irregularities in the award of the project.

The minutes of the last Senate panel meeting also recommended sending a letter to the donor Asian Development Bank to apprise them that the bids were “technically invalid and were manipulated due to the mala fide intention of the NHA officials and contractors”.

The panel also asked the Eco­nomic Affairs Division to write to the ADB within two days, informing the lender that the bids were technically invalid, besides highlighting the firms’ non-compliance with the rules.

Committee asks NHA, EAD to approach ADB, inform donor about manipulation of bidding process

The committee also directed the EAD to share the findings of the Senate panel with the inquiry committee formed by the prime minister. Earlier, the PM suspended eight senior officials of the NHA in this case.

The committee also recommended legal action against the auditor for submitting a fake report without supporting documents. It noted that the auditor submitted working papers for payments mentioned in the audit sheets without any supporting documentation, and against the arbitrator for alleged manipulation, as he had a past association with the JV partners.

The lead firm in the joint venture had been disqualified in the Carec-II project, but it was later declared eligible for Phase-III of the project, inviting parliamentary scrutiny. The committee maintained that the company in question was a non-performing firm and was involved in litigation related to the Lodhran-Multan project.

“The committee declared the bids for ADB CAREC Tranche-III (Rajanpur-DG Khan - DI Khan) Project of M/s NXCC, M/s Dyn­amic Constructors and M/s Rus­tam Associates null and void due to failure to meet the mandatory average annual turnover criteria of local partners. The auditor-submitted documents were found to be unverified and potentially fraudulent, and due process was not followed and without supporting documents and refusal from the companies for the provision of documents of ADB CAREC Tranche-III (Rajanpur-DG Khan-DI Khan) Project,” the minutes said.

The committee also asked the EAD and the NHA to submit a comprehensive report on Section I (Chakdara-Timargara) of the N-45 project in the next meeting.It also sought the necessary information regarding the rehabilitation of the Chitral Approach Road. The Senate body recommended that the EAD and the NHA recover approximately Rs1.7 billion as tax relief from the firms that participated in the Shandur-Gilgit project.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2025