An Iranian company has penned a letter to Pakistan concerning the delay in payments for the installation of a 220 kV transmission line from Iran to Gwadar. The company addressed its concerns to the government of Pakistan regarding outstanding payments exceeding Rs. 1 billion for the transmission line installation.
According to sources, the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) had awarded a contract to the Iranian company Sunir for laying the transmission lines to facilitate the import of an additional 100MW of power from Iran.
The company commenced work on the project prior to the signing of amendment no. 2(a) of the contract, as per the directives of the Prime Minister. Subsequently, the project was officially inaugurated on May 18, 2023, by the Presidents of Iran and Pakistan.
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Despite completing the project on July 13, 2023, ahead of the October 4, 2023 deadline, the company alleges that NTDC has withheld payments amounting to €5.299 million, with an additional Rs. 36.1 million outstanding.
The company attributes the payment delay to the non-approval of the revised PC-1 of the project. They emphasize that it is the responsibility of the project sponsor to fulfill such procedural formalities before project initiation. Despite repeated requests and numerous meetings, the company claims that NTDC has yet to release the outstanding payments.
Consequently, the company is facing financial constraints without any fault on their part. They urge the government of Pakistan to take immediate action to release the pending payments.
