Government to award Rs.28,000 crore highway projects

The government plans to award Rs 28,000 crore worth of highways development projects in the current fiscal under the newly conceived hybrid annuity model amid renewed interest among private firms. This will be the largest investment under the PPP model in the sector in any single year since 2010. The Road Transport and Highways Ministry is targeting investment of over Rs 1 lakh crore from private sector in the next two-three years. Several infrastructure companies have already bid for projects worth Rs 5,500 crore under the new model, while bids for the remaining projects are yet to be invited. In all, the ministry will be awarding projects adding to more than 1,500 km under the hybrid model this year.