ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Friday announced that it had found serious procurement issues like collusive practices and conflicts of interest in multi-billion-rupee road projects being executed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) through foreign loans.
In a detailed report released by the Senate Secretariat, the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs “uncovered significant concerns” regarding NXCC’s (one of the contractors) prior disqualification, arbitration conflicts, payment discrepancies, document manipulation, and collusive bidding practices.
The meeting presided over by Senator Saifullah Abro discussed serious allegations of irregularities, collusive practices, and potential corruption in the awarding of contracts for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Tranche-III corridor project by the NHA.
The panel chief said contracts were initially awarded based on auditor sheets without verifying the credentials of M/s Dynamic Constructors, M/s Rustam Associates, and M/s Ningxia Commun-ications Construction Co., Ltd (NXCC).
Senate panel finds ‘collusive bidding, conflicts of interest, manipulation of documents’ in road projects
“The committee maintained that M/s NXCC is a non-performing firm and is currently involved in litigation related to the Multan-Lodhran project”, the report said. “Surprisingly, NHA proposed Mr. Zafar Hussain Siddiqui as an arbitrator, despite his past association with the first lowest bidders M/s Dynamic Constructors and M/s Rustam Associates construction companies”, it added.
Mr Abro presented a money trail with bank statement that “clearly indicated Zafar Hussain Siddiqui’s prior affiliation with the JV partners of M/s NXCC”. However, NHA officials said that it had no prior knowledge of the arbitrator’s connection with either party.
After thorough discussion, the chairman of the committee recommended that NHA file a petition in the Supreme Court against the award, as the circumstances strongly suggest official malafide intent to clear M/s NXCC from litigation and non-performance issues, ultimately facilitating the award of the ADB CAREC Tranche-III (Rajanpur-D.G. Khan-D.I. Khan) Project.
“The secretary of Ministry of Communications also questioned the concerned NHA officials on how such a situation was allowed to develop,” the report said.
Mr Abro told the committee NHA had submitted incomplete papers. They submitted only the auditor reports of M/s Dynamic Constructors and M/s Rustam Associates, he siad. He alleged the auditor reports prepared by A.B.M & Co. reflected irregularities and signs of collusive practices in ADB CAREC Tranche-III project.
The panel also held a detailed discussion on the Gilgit- Shandur Joint Venture Motorway Project. It noted, according to the auditor’s statement, there were several irregularities and signs of collusive practices in the project. In the Gilgit-Shandur project, M/s Dynamic Constructors and M/s Rustam Associates are partnered in JV with M/s NXCC and NLC serving as the lead partner.
“Surprisingly, the record showed that contractors received payments exceeding their quoted share which was evident from the payment details.” The committee also noted clear signs of document manipulation.
In several cases, the recorded payments were higher than the amounts mentioned in the corresponding work orders“, said the report, adding the panel expressed serious concern over the lack of verification within the NHA, especially for such a large-scale project.
The committee was shocked to learn that contractors had claimed experience and submitted payment documents for work done with FWO, HSSR, and various building and real estate companies.
Referring to the “Hanzol Hydropower Project,” he revealed that the work order was issued on May 7, 2024, and the work completed on May 7, 2025. However, the bid documents for the project were submitted in September 2024 and the same project was included in the audit reports for the financial year 2023–24.
Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2025
