Pakistan – مدینہِ ثانی

The actual GRAND THEFT is supposed to begin soon.

The $34 Billion investment from China that they keep parroting about isn’t actually an investment, it’s a LOAN.

This LOAN carries a FEE/INTEREST RATE of 7% whereas the project loans Pakistan gets from ADB/WB etc. are usually at a rate of 2-4%

To avail this LOAN, the condition is that there will be NO BIDDING for the project and Government will award contracts directly to Chinese companies (or companies that will utilize Chinese equipment and contractors).

For this to happen, Government is amending Procurement rules since currently it’s not possible to award such contracts without BIDDING.

Procurement rules amendment will allow Government to SET THE PRICE ITSELF for a certain type of work and award direct contract to any company without any bidding involved.

Most of this Loan will be utilized for Coal based Power Projects for which Government has already filed a “Tariff Review Petition” in NEPRA headed by Khawaja Naeem – a close Relative of Khawaja Asif.
Despite the fact that this “Tariff review petition” was not maintainable since it was filed a year after review period expired, NEPRA has accepted the petition and on Government’s request and has approved New escalated Upfront Tariffs for Coal based Power Projects.
Government has requested (and NEPRA approved) to allow $1.7 Million Dollar per Mega Watt construction cost for such projects whereas India has recently built a better and more efficient (than approved by NEPRA) Coal based power plant at a cost of $ 0.55 Million Dollar per Mega Watt

So Now, with NO BIDDING involved, Government will award contracts with a construction Cost of $ 1.7 Million per Mega Watt and hence 2/3rd of it will go into pockets of all the people involved.

This also explains why “Hussain Nawaz” and “Salman Shahbaz” (who look after family business and have no apparent involvement in Politics) were not only part of state delegation but were also part of meetings that discussed and finalized these MOUs.

This does not end here; NEPRA has also revised the ‘Rate of Return’ on investment from 17% to 27% (an unprecedented step) for these projects.

And not surprisingly, first company to announce a Coal based Power project under this program is owned by Mian Mansha.

So Now, be ready for country to be burdened further by $34 Billion Loan and a higher Electricity tariff…

If everything goes as planned, at the end of the day “Some” will have their pockets heavier by 10-15 Billion Dollars or more….
On Transparency International website, letter written to Ministry of Water and Power, this is available. Who went on China visit and was part of meetings is widely reported in Media. Sources are NEPRA, Transparency International, and DAWN/THE NEWS. Also Nishat Energy is the company that announced to build Coal based plants with Chinese ‘Investment’. On NEPRA website, one can find Govt’s petition and NEPRA announcement document for Upfront Coal Tariff.

Note: Information posted as received about the much talked about Chinese investment that was about to take place.