Report by Engineering Post
Following successfully doling out the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to Messrs Arif Habib of the private sector, the federal government intends to fast track privatization of more public sector entities in the coming months.
These public sector entities included the privatization and outsourcing of the Islamabad International Airport, as many as five electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) and two power generation companies.
Following the PIA’s privatization, the Islamabad International Airport has been identified as the next on the priority list and the process in this regard was going to be carried out through open and competitive bidding rather than the government to government arrangements.
According to the information available from the official sources, a summary seeking approval for outsourcing the Islamabad Airport and for the appointment of a financial advisor was going to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Privatization and the federal cabinet in due course of time. Following outsourcing of the Islamabad Airport, Karachi and Lahore Airports were also going to be outsourced and their staff would be redeployed to smaller airports in the country following completion of the process.
Pretty large number of 24 state-owned entities have been included in the privatization programme of the federal government for the just commenced year 2026. In this regard, the process for privatizing five DISCOs and two GENCOs has already been launched indicating the hurried intentions of the Privatization Commission.
