Thursday, August 28, Shaban 24, 1429    

OGDCL, Jamshoro Power Co to be privatised soon

Staff Reporter

Islamabad—A meeting of the members of the Board of Privatisation Commission was held here today under the chairmanship of Syed Naveed Qamar Federal Minister for Privatisation, Investment and Finance. The PC decided that the Financial Advisor for Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) may be directed to work out all the options for privatisation of OGDCL through sale of shares, strategic sale with management control or assets sale including Qadirpur Gas field on fast track basis taking into account the observance of all steps strictly in accordance with the legal provisions.
The PC Board decided to invite fresh Expressions of Interests (EOIs) for the privatisation of Jamshoro Power Company Limited (JPCL). Jamshoro Power Company Limited (JPC) located in Sindh Province of Pakistan was established as a result of the unbundling of Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). It was organized to take over all the properties, rights, assets, obligations and liabilities of three thermal power stations namely Jamshoro, Kotri and Lakhra with a total nameplate capacity of 1204 MW. The company was incorporated in August 1998 as a public limited company under Pakistan Companies Ordinance 1984.
The Government of Pakistan intends to sell a majority 51% interest in JPC including management control to a strategic investor or a consortium of strategic and financial investors. The GoP intends to hold 49% of the equity beyond privatisation. JPC facilities are located within the environs of Hyderabad with key connections to the NTDC grid to enable power to be injected to major load centers in the South of the country including Karachi.
Syed Naveed Qamar instructed the PC to seek assistance of board members to take immediate measures for settling the transfer of title of properties in the name of PTCL as already agreed between the GoP and the buyer in order to ensure expeditious release of tranche by the buyer to GoP.
The Privatisation Commission (PC) has already finalized the schedule for the privatisation of public sector entities during September-October 2008, which include the Global Depository Receipts (GDR) of Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO) for its listing in the international capital market in October 2008, concluding the privatisation process of SME Bank in September 2008 and to hold bidding for the privatisation of 90 % shares of Hazara Phosphate Fertilizers Limited (HPFL) with management control, Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC) and National Power Construction Company (NPCC) during September 2008.