Railways expecting revenue shortfall of Rs six billion

Pakistan Railway is expecting revenue shortfall of Rs 6 billion as it is expected to generate Rs 12 billion in the current financial year against Rs 18 billion during the last financial year. This was revealed by the Railway officials in the National Assembly Standing Committee on Railway which met here on Monday with Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in the chair.
The committee was informed that Pakistan Railways is facing the worst crises of its history due to shortage of locomotives. The committee considered the issue of procurement of 150 locomotives and recommended ways and means to make the procurement process transparent and in accordance with rules and regulations.
The committee was informed that a PC-1 for procurement of 150 locomotives in completely built condition (CBU) was approved by ECNEC at a cost of Rs 55.488 billion including Foreign exchange Component (FEC) of Rs 40.363 billion in a meeting held on 8-12-2010 to overcome shortage of locomotives.
To ensure the bidding and evaluation process of these locomotives more transparent, third party validity process before and after bidding has been recommended. A 5-member committee was constituted, consisting of the well reputed Railways official to conduct this process. The body would submit the report to the standing committee in 15 days. The committee would also report the number of locomotives repaired, status, performance and the spare parts imported in last three yeas for these locomotives.
The committee was informed that international advertised tender was invited where 18 bidders have shown interest. However, single stage two envelop bidding process as per PPRA rules 36 (b) would be followed. The bidders would be required to submit bid bond amounting to $9.500 million and validity of offer would be for 150 days. Draft maintenance contract for the offered locomotives should be constituted along with technical bid. Pre-bid conference would be held on September 6, 2011 and tender would be opened on September 24, 2011. Pakistan Railways would have the right to issue single order or divide the order between different bidders.
The committee also recommended the Railway Ministry to implement the minimum wage of Rs 7000 per month as announced during the last financial year. The committee recommended the Ministry to release the said amount from July 1, 2010. The committee also considered various other issues which related to the efficiency and performance of Pakistan Railways.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Nauman Islam Sheikh, Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry, Dr Talat Mahesar, Rahela Baloch, Tariq Mahmood Bajwa, Ramesh Lal, Malik Ibrar Ahmad, Dewan Ashiq Hussain Bokhari, Pir Muhammad Aslam Bodla, Dr Muhammad Ayub Sheikh, Haji Rozuddin, Rana Tanveer Hussain and Muhammad Afzal Sandhu.