Islamabad: The Government received an apathetic response to its auction by three inefficient power plants, which forced him to go to a second bidding round by the end of this month.
Only one bidder, Karachi Siddiqsons, presented an offer for Jamshor Power Company Ltd (JPCL). Two other floors, Muzaffarh and Faisalabad, did not get a single offer. The Government established a combined reserve price of RS26.625 billion for the three floors with 2,362MW of cumulative generation capacity.
The auction was convened through an offer of “two -stage of a single stage” to guarantee transparency, said the Ministry of Energy (Energy Division), added that the bidding date was established for May 19. “Only one company, Siddiqsons, presented an offer for JPCL. No company presented any offer for Muzaffarh and Faisalabad energy plants,” said the energy division. The date for opening offers has extended until May 30, he said in a statement.
The Government maintained an open tender for the elimination of three old and missing electric power plants on a base “as it is, where it is.” These include 880MW JamSHORO THERMAL POWER LTD, 1,350MW NORTHERN POWER GENERATION COMPANY LTD-MUZAFFARGRH AND 132MW CENTRAL POWER GENERATION COMPANY LTD-FAISALABAD STEAM STATION.
Jamshoro receives the only offer; Muzaffarh and Faisalabad do not receive any
The Energy Division said that 29 power plants with a 4,074MW generation capacity have been selected for an auction at a reserve price of RS40.461bn. These include blocks and units of Jamshoro, Guddu, Muzaffarrh, Quetta and Faisalabad.
The bidding process for other Genco-II plants has been postponed, including the Guddu and TPS Quetta thermal plant. These assets will now be offered on May 30 in a separate round to guarantee greater participation of investors with improved terms of sale.
The executive director of NPGCL Sabih-Uz-Zaman Farooqi confirmed a mediocre response of investors, adding that the auction of redundant and outdated energy assets was always expected to proceed in phases due to the age and state of the plants.
The process is technically complex, and the appetite of investors varies according to the location of the plant, efficiency and future viability, he added.
Previously, the Government sold seven thermal plants per RS9.05bn, almost one billion rates higher than the reserve price of RS8.07 billion. Three units were located in Kotri, Larkra and Sukkur, and four in fine and faisalabad.
“We will evaluate why there are no offers to Muzaffarh and Faisalabad,” said Farooqi.
Before the bidding, the possible improvements had expressed concerns regarding the applicability of taxes on income and sales and the exemption of sales tax on metal waste under prevailing fiscal laws.
However, NPGCL clarified that the assets were being auctioned at the base of “as is, where it is” and do not fall into the scrap category.
Therefore, the sales tax will be applied to the 18PC standard rate for registered companies, with an additional 4PC for unregistered companies.
In addition, the 10 -piece anticipated income tax applies to bidders with the active state of taxpayers and 20PC for non -active taxpayers.
The bidders also requested a reduction in the performance requirement of 10 percent to 5pc of the total contract price. However, NPGCL management insisted that bidders must comply with the provisions described in the bidding documents issued.
The bidders also sought several other relaxations, including the dissemination of the reserve price in term, which was unacceptable for the auction team.
Posted in Dawn, May 20, 2025
