Expressing reservations over the process adopted for privatisation of Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC), the Senate's sub-committee on Thursday sought minutes of the meeting prepared at the time of placing this entity in the list of organisations proposed to be privatized and details of the modus operandi adopted for the purpose.
A meeting of the sub-committee of the Senate's Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Privatisation held under the chairmanship of Senator Kamil Ali Agha also asked the Privatisation Commission to submit detailed report before the committee about the modus operandi of privatisation of the HEC as to when and why the entity was to be privatized.
The committee also sought details regarding tender, assets and liabilities of the HEC. Senator Agha said that the minutes of meeting, called for the privatisation of HEC, should be provided to the committee before its next meeting. He also said that details of the method adopted for privatisation should also be provided to the Senate so as to determine the reasons that forced the privatisation of HEC.
Minister of State for Privatisation and Privatisation Commission's Chairman Muhammad Zubair told the committee that the decision to privatize was not taken by the commission, but it was decided by the Cabinet's Committee on October 3, 2013. "We are the arms of the government and the PC is bound to implement directives of the government," he added.
Senator Mohsin Aziz said that government undertakes projects by spending billions of rupees and then sell it on throw away prices. The HEC was put on the list of privatisation in the year when it was established, he added.
He said that HEC has 70 acres land worth billions of rupees, while the price fixed for its privatisation is very low. The HEC is a national asset of strategic importance with a lot of potential which should have been utilized. PPP senator Saeed Ghani said that the committee should also inform about an email sent by adviser Cargill Holdings Limited to the director general of the PC concerning the matter. The committee should be provided with details that why the deal of privatisation of HEC was made with a `fake' company, namely Cargill Holdings Limited, he said, adding that what action has been taken by the PC after an advertisement was published against the company.
He said that if HEC was in deficit then the committee should be informed that how much subsidy was given by the government to HEC during the last five to six years. Privatisation Commission's Secretary Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera said that the commission has forfeited Rs 25 million of the company. The decision to privatize HEC was taken by Cabinet Committee and Ministry of Finance had got information from Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in this regard, he said, adding that the commission will write a letter to the FBR to provide details to the committee.
The HEC was established to produce power transformers required for the village electrification programme through expansion of existing electricity transmission and distribution network. The complex was set up with the technical and financial assistance of China and its plant's machinery had been procured from various Chinese and European sources.
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