Pak Railways Refuses to Accept Locally Produced Diesel

Staff Report

Pakistan Railways is using imported diesel while refusing locally produced diesel, raising serious concerns in the local oil industry.

According to a letter dated May 31, 2024, addressed to the Secretary/Chairman of the Railways Division, the CEO of Attock Refinery stated that Pak Railways, in its tenders for the supply of high-speed diesel (HSD), specifies a flash point of 66 degrees Celsius minimum, which is meant only for imported HSD, instead of 54 degrees Celsius minimum, which is the approved specification for HSD produced by local refineries.

This anomaly rules out the use of locally produced diesel by Pak Railways, making it dependent on imported diesel. This issue has been pending resolution for many years despite various correspondences and meetings between the local refineries and Railways authorities.

When contacted, Adil Khattak, CEO of Attock Refinery Ltd, commented that they are at a loss to understand why Pak Railways insists on using a specification of 66 degrees Celsius flash point for only imported diesel when many countries like the USA, Canada, the European Union, Japan, China, South Korea, India, and South American countries are using the same or even lower flash point specifications than Pakistan’s for locally produced diesel.Aramco Completes Acquisition of 40% Stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan

“We also provided copies of Indian Railways’ tender specifying a 35 degrees Celsius flash point, much lower than Pakistan’s specs for locally produced diesel. Moreover, even Pak Railways’ own committee in May 2021 confirmed that there is no issue with using 54 degrees Celsius flash point HSD, but the matter still remains unresolved,” Mr. Khattak added.

He personally followed up on this issue with past Railways ministers and CEOs, but for some unexplained reason, the anomaly continues, causing not only a loss of precious foreign exchange but also making a strategic asset dependent on imported fuel.

“We hope that the present minister, Chairman, and CEO will take a positive decision at the earliest to resolve this long-standing issue,” Mr. Khattak concluded.