The State Bank of Pakistan has so far declined to pay $45 million to an Iranian firm and as a result the procurement of 13 heavy power transformers, with an installed capacity of 500MW, has been held in abeyance in spite of the crippling energy crisis in the country.The request was earlier made by the Ministry of Water and Power in a bid to purchase the power transformers which would help upgrade the old transmission system and also to deal with continuing tripping problems.Last year, the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) issued a tender for the purchase of these transformers.
An Iranian firm placed the lowest bid as par requirements to obtain the tender.
An official at the power ministry, on condition of anonymity, said that the Iranian firm successfully arranged the transformers but the SBP has now refused to pay $45 million to the firm due to US sanctions on Iran.
