Rs1 billion refund: ‘Techno Energy victim of Pepco machinations’

Power company alleges Pepco’s defaults were the actual reason for delaying the project.

ISLAMABAD: Certain credible evidences are expected to be produced before the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday by owners of rental power plant Techno Energy who will try to explain why their project got delayed. The owners had earlier been directed by the Supreme Court to pay back a billion rupees to the government of Pakistan or face imprisonment. The evidence relates to how the bureaucracy of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) played havoc with the Sialkot-based project for which Rs4.3billion had been spent in two years for purchase of land, plant and machinery.

The SC has now been informed in writing that the company is a veteran in the field and has not disappointed its clients in the past. It is one of the few such entities in Pakistan that have the capability to build the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, as it had built an 800-kilometre long pipeline from Port Qasim to Mahmood Kot in 2000-2005, which speaks a lot for its credentials as a serious player in the market.

A spokesperson for Techno Energy confirmed that the company was making efforts to present a bank draft of a billion rupees to the Chief Justice of Pakistan before seeking to explain its position and show how it was wronged by Pepco and suffered huge losses.

Company owners Abid and Majid Ali were willing to come to Pakistan to seek justice from Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary, “as we believe that our point of view was not presented before the court.” The company spokesman claimed that his rental power plant had given the lowest rate.

According to available documents submitted before the court for Monday’s hearing, Majid Ali, Chief Executive Techno Energy (Private) Limited has also brought some facts to the notice of the Chief Justice.  The spokesman said that the country was going through a very challenging phase and investors were not investing money in Pakistan.  “It is therefore important that all honest businessmen are given due respect and their confidence in the system is strengthened,” one letter said to be produced before the court.

Majid Ali’s letter says “while we fully appreciate the honourable judges’ resolve to root out corruption and your initiative and efforts in this respect are commendable, I humbly believe that it is equally important that the honour of legitimate businessmen in these initiatives is fully maintained and is not brought into any unnecessary disrepute. In this respect, the role of our media cannot be overemphasised.”

Meanwhile, company lawyer Ahmed Bilal Soofi in his petition said that the petitioner had to arrange for a special loan facility from a bank after having provided them satisfactory securities, in order to comply with the SC directions.

He clarified that orders passed by the SC regarding refund of the advance amount were made in the context of those rental companies who, despite having received advances, failed to import machinery or acquire land or demonstrate satisfactory utilisation of the advance amount. Several of other rental power companies have not much to show for utilisation of the advances received, he said.

The spokesman said that  Techno Energy was a veteran of industrial engineering works and had utilised not only the advance of 7% received but also invested over and above the said advance with a determination to commission a rental plant as soon as possible.

The spokesman said that it must be brought on record that the petitioner’s company has performed despite a series of defaults from Pepco. The petitioner is not responsible for delay in commissioning of the plant, he maintained.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2011.