NHAI identifies 950 km stretches to be constructed under PPP

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in a bid to revive public-private partnership (PPP) for its projects, will offer about 950 km of road stretches that are estimated to be worth Rs 300 billion on its Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.  The agency has invited pre-qualification bids after which it will assess the potential investors’ responses.In accordance with the BOT model, the funding for building roads will be provided by the private sector developers who will also operate it for a fixed duration before transferring it to the government. Various stretches have been identified on a pan-India basis after discussions with possible bidders, and cover the states of Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The stretches are set to be bid out in the span of the current and the next financial year. Additionally, the ministry of road transport and highways is also taking active steps to make the BOT mode of construction more attractive to the private sector. It is also reportedly, amending the termination clause of BOT projects, among other changes and is expected to issue guidelines to ensure that the project mode is successful.