Lahore:
The National Grid Company (NGC) has declared a blacklisted company that is eligible to participate in a bid for a 135 -kilometer transmission line project.
According to details, NGC issued a bid to make a 135 km transmission line. Four companies were declared justified after a technical evaluation. A company previously blacklisted by the Asian Development Bank to indulge in false practices and furnishing of false documents was also declared justified after the technical evaluation. Interestingly, a blacklisted company cannot be declared entitled to participate in any bid.
In a letter sent to the NGC CEO, an Saudi investment company said the company came to Pakistan for making investments in the government, but the blacklisted company was declared justified, which corresponds to irregularity. The incident raised the question mark on the transparency in the NGC tendering process.
The Saudi company demanded that an investigation of the case be conducted to restore the confidence of foreign investors.
Sources said some NGC officials are changing rules to declare the blacklisted company justified. When Express News contacted NTDC MD Engineer Shahid Nazeer about the case, he said the letter from the Saudi company was forwarded to the procurement and the contract management department.
