Nhai Urged To Pick Up Stake In Pune Road Project

The Maharashtra government has sought financial collaboration with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for execution of the Mumbai-Pune expressway project, which is to be executed in the state sector with funds arranged by the state government.

The state governments proposal envisages the authority picking up equity in the

project. The state has told the Union surface transport ministry that equity participation by NHAI would help it raise the rest of the required funds from other sources to implement the project. Potential investors view the participation of the authority as a kind of guarantee.

The Union surface transport ministry has not responded to the proposal yet. Surface transport secretary Yogendra Narain said the proposal was under examination.

 

Besides funds to be provided by the new state-owned highway development corporation, which has been entrusted with the task of executing the project, the state government plans to tap the resources of some of its cash-rich organisation like the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority. It also plans to tap the bond market and organise lending from banks and financial institutions.

The project, according to current estimates, is likely to cost about Rs 1,500 crore.

The length of highways to be covered under it is 84 km.

The project was earlier slated to come up in the private sector under the build, operate and transfer scheme for which a consortium led by Reliance Industries had emerged as the main contender. Other member of the consortium were Carter & Burgess of the United States, Canadian Highway International and the DAR consortium of the UK.

But the bid of Reliance and its partners was rejected by the state government because, as Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said at a press conference, the Reliance-led consortium was quoting inflated costs.

The state government therefore decided to implement the project with its own funding in the state sector.