ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has formally submitted a comprehensive status report to the Prime Minister’s Office, rejecting allegations of irregularities and award of the ADB-funded Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Tranche 3 project to any black listed firm.
The NHA’s report stated that the CAREC Tranche 3 project, which involves the construction of an additional two-lane carriageway along a 330 km stretch of National Highway N-55 from Rajanpur to Dera Ismail Khan, is being financed under ADB Loan No. 4416-PAK.
The procurement process is subject to strict ADB guidelines and was carried out under the ADB Prior Review Mechanism, meaning that every single step—technical and financial—required prior approval from ADB before proceeding.
NHA denies CAREC project being given to blacklisted Chinese co
The NHA categorically denied awarding the contract to a blacklisted firm, stating that the successful consortium—M/s Ningxia Communications Construction Co. Ltd (NXCC) of China with local partners M/s Rustam Associates (RA) and M/s Dynamic Constructors (DC)—was never blacklisted by any Pakistani agency including NHA, FBR or PEC and PPRA or the donor agency.
“These firms are in good standing with the Pakistan Engineering Council and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA),” the report affirms, adding that both local partners are registered in the “No Limit” category with PEC and have completed multiple projects in the country.
The NHA also clarified that allegations regarding NXCC’s performance on the Lodhran–Multan project were resolved through ADB-sanctioned processes. NXCC responded to the concerns, and the ADB, after reviewing all documentation and clarifications, issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) on January 17, 2025, for the technical evaluation and again on April 30, 2025, for the financial bid evaluation.
The report highlights that the lowest evaluated bids across the four project lots totalled Rs146 billion, which is about 20% below the NHA’s own engineer’s estimate and not Rs172 billion as falsely claimed in the news reports. The difference between the lowest and second-lowest bids alone resulted in a cost saving of Rs13.19 billion, the NHA stressed.
According to the NHA report to PM office, the project bidding followed the Single Stage – Two Envelope Procedure in accordance with ADB’s standard documents. A pre-bid meeting was held in August 2024, attended by 12 interested firms. Technical bids were submitted by 12 bidders and underwent a thorough ADB-approved evaluation process. Concerns raised by a competing bidder about NXCC’s track record were evaluated under Appendix 7 of ADB’s procurement regulations and addressed within the Technical Bid Evaluation Report (TBER), which ADB fully endorsed.
After receiving ADB’s concurrence at every step—including the final Price Bid Evaluation Report (PBER)—the NHA awaits only a revision in the PC-I approval from ECNEC before formally awarding the contracts.
The report also refers to Rule 5 of Pakistan’s Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Rules, which states that international obligations under treaties or agreements—including those with financial institutions like ADB—take precedence over domestic procurement rules in case of conflict.
The report concluded that the entire procurement process was conducted in a “transparent and accountable manner” and with the full oversight and approval of ADB at all stages. All complaints were addressed and shared with the ADB, and none of the bidding firms were unfairly disqualified.
“The issuance of No Objection Letters by ADB for both technical and financial stages is the strongest evidence that no procurement violations occurred,” the report added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025