The federal government has sought details of assets sold by Pakistan Railways in Sindh and the sharing of sale proceeds with the provincial government, it is reliably learnt. "The matter regarding sharing of sale proceeds between Railways and Sindh government should be brought before the federal cabinet," an official said while quoting the decision of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet''s recent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The decision was taken on a summary of Railways Ministry regarding "leasing of plot measuring 8,633 sq. yards for 99 years located at I.I. Chundrigar Road, opposite GPO, Karachi.
The ministry in its summary informed the ECC that Railways land situated at I.I. Chundrigar Road was lying unutilised and was not generating any revenue for the last many decades, the official added.
The land had been offered for auction sometime back and the bid of National Logistics Cell (NLC) was the highest among five bids received in the auction. The NLC''s offer was Rs 222 per square yard, the official said.
The Railways Ministry in its plea had claimed that three bidders other than NLC in the auction were asked to quote new prices, but they did not turn up, the official said. The sources said that during the discussion, it was pointed out that matters pertaining to individual transactions should be settled by the concerned ministries/divisions themselves, rather than bringing them before the ECC.
The ECC directed that only the cases pertaining to policy decisions be brought up to this forum, however, detail of sale proceeds shared between Railways and Sindh government should be submitted to the federal cabinet for review.