Thar Coal gasification project: NAB fails to initiate probe ordered by SC in 2018

KARACHI: The probe into the alleged financial irregularities and financial loss to the national exchequer in the ‘underground gasification project’ of Thar, Sindh could not be initiated by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) despite a lapse of three years.

The Supreme Court in the first week of December, 2018, had ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to take action against the project’s management responsible for the loss to the national exchequer in the Thar coal gasification project. The Supreme Court had observed that despite spending of Rs 4.9 billion on the said ‘underground coal gasification’ (UCG) project’, it did not transmit a single megawatt to the national grid since its launch 12 years ago at the Thar Coal Block V. It had ordered NAB to probe the case in light of the preliminary audit report presented before the court by the Auditor General of Pakistan.

Renowned scientists had always questioned the commercial viability of the said project due to its non-validation by a third party -- any reputable international firm -- but the project was provided millions of rupees. The Sindh government in 2009 had allotted Block-V of Thar Coal field to generate underground coal gas known as Syngas to produce electricity and the federal government provided billions of rupees funds for this project.

The audit report of of the Auditor General of Sindh pointed out many financial irregularities, which caused a loss of around Rs 5 billion to the national exchequer in the ‘underground coal gasification’ project, Islamkot, Thar. It mentions that tenders for the purchase of machinery and equipment costing Rs 1.73 billion were invited from 2009 to 2018.

Earlier, the management had claimed to invite International Competitive Bidding (ICB), but it was finalised through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB). Had tenders been invited as ICB, more firms from the international market would have participated.

The management of the project opted for NCB despite the fact that the plant had to be imported from other countries. In most of the tenders, only one firm could qualify technically who acted as an agent.

Furthermore, the audit report observed that neither NIT nor any other bidding documents contained any technical criteria against which the technical evaluation was to be conducted. The technical evaluation reports signed by the committee members contained only subjective remarks without justifying award of work to a particular firm.

This reporter approached NAB spokesman Nawazish Ali Asim, called at his number and then sent him a query regarding the issue, and waited for 14 days, but he did not respond till the filing of the story.