Bid call for Bundle-3 projects
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has invited investors to come up with more innovative investment models for the infrastructure sector such as the risk-free Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) project.
The invitation came from NHAI Chairman Narendra Nath Sinha at a road show for the third phase of TOT project for prospective bidders in New Delhi on 2 August 2019.
Transport sector has been allocated enhanced outlay of Rs.83,000 crore in the Union Budget for development of roads and highways in the country. But the remaining funding requirements to meet ambitious plans are being managed through private sector investments, said Sinha.
Exhorting investors for qualitative improvement, he called upon the concessionaires to concentrate upon improving road safety, quality of maintenance and improving toll collection methods so that waiting time at toll plazas is cut down drastically.
Sinha said several more bundles will be offered in the months to come, and urged private investors to bid for these bundles as TOT is a risk-free model.
The TOT bundle 3 comprises of nine stretches traversing a total length of approx. 566 kms in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu.
This phase has initial mandated capital works approx. Rs 400 crore lower than Bundle 1 and Bundle 2 which will lead to significant savings for investors.
Almost 43% of bundle length is under annuity for almost 8-10 years which will lead to saving on at least one major maintenance cycle.
Stretch 1 and 2 connecting Jhansi to Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh on NH 25 and 26 has a total length of over 99 kms. Stretch 3 connecting Lucknow to Raibareli in Uttar Pradesh on NH 24B is 70 kms long. Stretch 4 connecting Kotwa to Muzaffarpur in Bihar on NH 28 has a length of 80 kms. Stretch 5 connecting Hazaribagh to Ranchi in Jharkhand on NH 33 is about 74 km long. Stretches 6,7, 8 and 9 connecting Madurai to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on NH is over 243 km long.
Approximately 6,400-km of projects length have been identified under TOT Model.
The first bundle of nine projects, totalling approximately 681 kms of roads in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, was awarded in 2018. It drew huge interests from foreign investors.
TOT Bundle-I was awarded to Macquarie for Rs.9,681 crore, which was 1.5 times the Authority’s estimate. The second bundle of over 586 kms spread over four States – Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar – with 12 toll plazas across four highways was also offered last year.
Due date for TOT Bundle-3 bid is 11 September 2019. fiinews.com
