Cost of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway Project Set to Increase

The National Highway Authority (NHA) on Tuesday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Communications that on account of an increase in diesel and other prices, the cost of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6) project will escalate.

The committee met under the chairmanship of Senator Prince Ahmed Omer Ahmedzai to discuss the irregularities in the award of contracts under the public-private partnership (PPP) agreement by the National Highway Authority (NHA) for the construction of Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway (M-6), Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway Project and contracts of toll tax stations under NHA.

NHA officials briefed the committee on the financial bid comparison for M-6 between Zahir Khan & Brothers (ZKB) and Techno-CMC-ACC.

The committee was informed that the project would be carried out in PPP mode and would be completed in three years.

Earlier the bid proposal of the Techno consortium was declared ineligible on account of the eligibility factors provided in the RFP. As a result, the technical evaluation of the only eligible bidder, i.e. ZKB was processed, on which the committee had reached a unanimous decision that the Techno consortium should be provided necessary documentation based on which they fulfill technical eligibility criteria per the bid data sheet of the project. The committee had declared their technical bid disqualification as incorrect.

The committee observed that it was evident by the financial bid proposal that the Techno consortium is lucrative from the government’s point of view as there is least financial burden on the government side.

The matter was disposed of while the matter of construction of the Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway project was deferred because of the non-provision of relevant documents. The ministry was directed to provide the details of the participating companies, bidding documents, and the comparison between their experiences.

On the matter of contracts of toll tax stations under NHA, it was observed that in Balochistan four toll plazas were identified out of which two were on the NHA record tabled in the meeting while the other two were not mentioned. The committee directed the NHA to ensure that all the toll plazas are registered.

The committee observed that the toll tax on the motorway from Islamabad to Lahore has increased from Rs. 60 in 2014 to Rs. 1000 in 2022, through a 10 percent annual increase. The committee stressed that the toll tax should benefit the people and not just the contractors.

The briefing on the funds allocated and released (project-wise) and payments made for the last quarter of FY222 and first quarter of FY23, liabilities of NHA firms, and the reason for the release of very small amounts against NHA projects involving huge costs were also deferred.

The committee pointed out that briefing and working papers submitted by the ministry were misleading, creating confusion in evaluating the facts of the projects. The ministry agreed to the recommendations of the committee and ensured to provide all the required details in the next meeting.