ISLAMABAD: The Federal Government has decided to show the door to Board of Directors (BoD) of National Transmission and Despatching Company (NTDC) due to decline in performance of the company and failing to resolve conflicts at the top level, well informed sources told Business Recorder.

NTDC manages 220 KV and 500 KV grid stations and is responsible for the construction and maintenance of transmission line network covering the entire country. Over the years not only the conventional infrastructure of the company has expanded considerably but the company has also ventured into higher voltage technologies like 765 KV and ±600kV HVDC. The scope of services also includes the interconnection infrastructure for IPPs.

The Board of Directors (BoD) of NTDC was constituted on January 28, 2021 with the approval of Federal Cabinet with the following composition: (i) Naveed Ismail (Chairman- independent director); (ii) Ali Zain Banatwala (independent director);(iii) Nauman K Dar (independent director) ;(iv) Almas Hyder (independent director); (v) Haroon Jan Baraylay (independent director);(vi) Additional Secretary Power (non-executive director);(vii) Member (Energy) Planning Commission;(viii) Joint Secretary (Transmission) Power Division); (ix) Managing Director PPIB;(x) Chief Executive Officer, CPPA-G; and (xi) Managing Director, NTDC (Executive Director).

During the period the company has remained in management crisis as five Managing Directors were changed within a short span of one and a half years. As a result, the performance of the company has witnessed a visible decline. During the same period, all senior management has been locked in serious litigation which shows that Board has not been able to have effective conflict resolution mechanism nor does there appear a clear strategy. Major donor-funded projects have seen alarming delays and the issues have repeatedly been highlighted by the Economic Affairs Division and the donor agencies.

In terms of section 2(1) (54) of the Companies Act 2017 read with Rules 2(1)(g) of the CGR, the Government has to elect, nominate or appoint majority directors of a Public Sector Company.

Power Division has solicited the Cabinet Division for placement of the draft summary for the re-constitution of BoD of NTDC before the Federal Cabinet for consideration.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022