The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) is set to revisit its decision to grant a 30-year lease extension to Engro Vopak Terminal Limited (EVTL) after Investment Minister Qaiser Sheikh raised objections, saying the move may violate public procurement rules and harm competition in the petrochemical sector.
The issue has been referred back to the ECC by the federal cabinet after the minister formally challenged the decision. Sheikh said he had written to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who chairs the ECC, and the matter was expected to come up again at Tuesday’s meeting.
The development comes only days before the expiry of EVTL’s existing 30-year lease agreement with the Port Qasim Authority (PQA), signed in 1996 under a build-operate-transfer arrangement. Earlier this month, the ECC had approved another 30-year extension through an additional agenda item moved by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.
In his written objections, Sheikh said his concerns were not reflected in the official minutes of the ECC meeting. He argued that EVTL’s unsolicited proposal did not satisfy the requirements of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules governing unique and innovative projects and therefore did not qualify for an extension without competitive bidding.
He further warned that granting another 30-year term without an open bidding process could create a monopoly and adversely affect the growth of Pakistan’s petrochemical industry. According to the minister, both the PPRA rules and a PQA in-house assessment committee had concluded that the proposal did not meet the threshold for exemption from competitive bidding.
Official records show that the PQA board had decided in 2021 that negotiations over a lease extension had failed and directed the authority to move towards competitive bidding. In 2022, EVTL submitted an unsolicited proposal, but a PQA committee reportedly found that it was neither unique nor innovative enough to qualify under the relevant procurement framework.
Despite that assessment, talks were later revived and changes were made to the implementation agreements. The PQA board eventually approved a proposal to extend the lease for another 30 years under revised terms, a decision that was later endorsed by the ECC.
EVTL operates one of the country’s most important energy and chemical terminals, handling more than 60 per cent of Pakistan’s bulk chemical imports and about 55pc of marine liquefied petroleum gas imports. Supporters of the extension argue that the terminal has played a significant role in supporting downstream petrochemical investment and lowering costs in the wider economy.
With the cabinet now asking the ECC to review the matter, uncertainty has emerged over the future of the lease arrangement just days before the current agreement is due to expire.
