PESHAWAR: Serious irregularities have been revealed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s Rs33 billion upcoming free solar project. Despite changing the solar specification, price per unit was kept at around Rs204,000. This has raised serious questions about transparency and fairness of the project. Experts claimed the new price should have been around Rs140,000 per unit.
Moreover, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Regulatory Authority has declared the tendering process as mis-procurement.
Interestingly, the project was divided into 20 packages, in which 13 companies participated. However, 18 packages received single bids and there was no competition. What’s more interesting is that another company, which submitted the lowest bid, offered rates that were 7pc lower for two packages in the Hazara Division.
The major specification changes included addition of all-in-one solution, which was later included in the PC-1 with a specific code. Sources claimed all-in-one solution was manufactured by only one company, customized, and that only one supplier was available in Pakistan. All the bidders, except one, have offered the same brand and model all–in–one solution.
Concerns arose when major changes were made to the solar package and an “all-in-one” unit was included, which contained a specific code. Surprisingly, this all-in-one unit is manufactured by only one company abroad and has only a single supplier available in Pakistan.
According to sources, a meeting of Standardisation Committee has been convened tomorrow to formally legalise inclusion of all-in-one unit, in what appears to be a fresh attempt to give legal cover to the matter.
Sources told this correspondent Chief Engineer (Renewable) Khurram Shehzad Durrani was part of the technical committee but was removed after he opposed “all-in-one” solar solution and raised valid concerns about the tender bids. Even though his concerns were later proven right when the bids were opened, he was sidelined — possibly because his objections were seen as a hurdle in getting the solution approved.
Meanwhile, the letter of KPPPRA No KP-PPRA/M&E/Advice/18-79/2024-25/169 issued on May 20, 2025, stated in the solar project case, no formal approval of PC-1 from PDWP has been obtained, nor has any anticipatory approval been granted.
However, the procuring entity proceeded with the procurement process by opening the financial bids, which is not covered under KPPRA Act, 2012, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Procurement Rules, 2014, framed thereunder.
