Business

ISLAMABAD: The Contractors Association of Pakistan (CAP) has expressed doubts about the transparency of the process adopted to award a multi-billion-rupee road project as the National Highway Authority (NHA) disqualified the country’s seven top firms, including the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), on identical grounds. The CAP appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Communications Minister Murad Saeed to intervene …

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank-assisted project to improve water use in agriculture is progressing satisfactorily as 13,637 watercourses in Punjab have been improved, exceeding the original target of 11,550 watercourses by 18 per cent. Based on the current speed, the project will improve 14,896 watercourses by June this year, 29pc more than the original target, according to the project progress report …

ISLAMABAD: Contesting objections by the federal entities, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is pushing for a transmission and grid system licence to ensure evacuation of about 7,300MW of its power generation lined up through substantial local and foreign investment. The National Transmission and Disptach Company (NTDC) and Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA) had last month opposed the grant of transmission licence …

RAWALPINDI: Following the government’s efforts to promote exports, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has started lifting kinnow cargo for the United Kingdom. A PIA spokesman said that in line with the government’s policy to increase export, the PIA had started delivery of Pakistani kinnows to Manchester after two decades. He said that 2,200kg of kinnows were exported by PIA’s first …

KARACHI: The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) handled a total cargo volume of 692,572 tonnes comprising 497,715 tonnes of import cargo and 194,857 tonnes of export cargo from Feb 1 to 4. According to data issued from the KPT, the import volume of containerised cargo stood at 220,916 tonnes, followed by 175,533 tonnes of oil and liquid cargo. KPT handled 30,371 …

KARACHI: The stock market maintained its upward journey in the outgoing shortened week as the KSE-100 index gained 520 points to close three-and-half years high at 46,906 points after hitting the 47,000 level. The market was driven by the positive events on the international and domestic front. During the week, the country witnessed declining cases of Covid-19 and the arrival …

LAHORE: The approval of the country’s first five-year Electric Vehicle (EV) policy for cars in December has led auto industry analysts and car enthusiasts to predict a rapid and early adoption of the technology by Pakistani customers. But the Chinese carmakers remain cautiously optimistic about the nation’s EV future, saying a lot hinges on if the country decides to leapfrog …

HYDERABAD: The Sindh food department is releasing 32,000 tonnes of ‘unfit-for-human-consumption’ wheat stocks from six years ago to flour mills for the month of February,  has learnt. The old wheat stocks — half of which will be provided to Karachi — are from the years 2012-2017. The wheat was found unfit for human consumption as per the food department’s Feb …

ISLAMABAD: The quantum of smuggled goods into the country decreased during the first seven months of 2020-21 from a year ago as data reported by the Pakistan Customs showed a higher collection of duties and taxes. Formal imports of six smugg­­ling-prone commodities — green tea, black tea, tyres, textile products, ­electronic goods and palm oil — increased by over 55.51 …

KARACHI: In the absence of any effective price control mechanism, millers on Friday pushed up flour prices once again. The latest hike comes only a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan directed that all required administrative measures be undertaken to ensure flour is available at low rates. Retailers in various areas are demanding Rs370 for five kg branded fine flour …