National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) of Pakistan is a defence production sector federal entity with many subsidiaries. Historically, there task is research and development in armaments production. These entities have a large industrial and human capital base with more than 16,000 employees and dozens of production and research facilities.
From early 2020’s, federal government encouraged them in form of funding and policy to diversify into commercial activities. The purpose was to spin of Commercial Sector Units (CSU’s) from these entities to capitalize on the skills as well as availability of indigenization ready projects in the public sector.
Qaswa Industries (QI) is a NESCOM subsidiary historically working on developing weapon systems for Pakistan Airforce. They had substantial capabilities in electrical engineering and electronics.
RCM pitched an opportunity of manufacturing composite insulators used in electricity transmission networks. Composite material insulators are a replacement of porcelain materials, and have important performance and lifecycle return advantages.
RCM, and its associated company Arden Engineering, secured a licensing/ToT agreement with Shemar Corporation, China, a major producer of composite materials and insulators.
Under the agreement, QI will manufacture composite insulators in Pakistan with Shemar’s raw materials and manufacturing technology. RCM also facilitated PKR800mn financial close of the project. Project is estimated to commence operations in Q32025
