Successful bidder of CAREC project: Senate panel asks NHA to write to ADB against a consortium

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Division, Senator Saifullah Abro, has directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to write to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) against a Chinese-led consortium, despite resistance from several committee members.

The consortium had been declared the successful bidder for tranche-III of the Central Asian Regional Economic Corridor (CAREC) project, winning with a margin of Rs13.2 billion. Senator Abro, who has been pursuing the matter for the past four months and pressing the NHA to annul the procurement process, faced opposition from newly-inducted committee members during the proceedings.

The NHA officials informed the committee that the Chinese-led consortium had refused to submit additional documents, arguing that such requirements fell outside the original bid terms and amounted to unfair treatment.

Senator Faisal Sabzwari questioned whether the NHA had initially advertised the demand for such documents along with the bid. In response, NHA General Manager Sarmad admitted that the requested documents were not part of the original bid requirements and were being sought later as “supporting documents.”

Senator Robina Khalid further pressed the NHA, asking whether the lead Chinese company was a state-owned enterprise, to which the officials admitted uncertainty. She also questioned why bank statements, FBR returns, and other financial documents were being demanded at this stage, and whether the same standards were applied to all contractors.

The NHA’s General Manager explained that such documents had not been required previously and were only being requested now on the instructions of the committee. He clarified that, under normal procedure, the authority relied on audit reports prepared by chartered accountancy firms.

Senator Rubina criticized the approach as “unfair and biased,” cautioning that bypassing standard practices would waste time and undermine trust in established auditing mechanisms. Senator Sabzwari supported her view, adding that reports prepared by chartered firms already carried responsibility, and excessive scrutiny of “minute details” would be impractical in day-to-day business.

Despite these objections, Senator Abro pressed ahead, directing the NHA to write to the ADB to convey the committee’s findings and to begin blacklisting proceedings against the consortium.

Senior officials from the Economic Affairs Division urged Senator Abro to wait for the outcome of a high-level committee formed by the Prime Minister to review the matter, but their request was rejected.“We are not answerable to the Prime Minister or his committee,” Abro asserted, adding, “We will proceed even if that committee clears the project.”

The consortium has recently approached Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, seeking his intervention against what they termed continuous targeting by Senator Abro.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025