PPP plan for Rs 6,290-cr expressway project scrapped by govt
The government had plans under public-private partnership (PPP) model to build the Rs 6,290-crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) project. The government had to scrap the project as it did not attract any bids. The deadline was Apr 4. NHAI did not receive any bids forcing it to plan the project under conventional engineering procurement construction (EPC) mode. Reliance Infrastructure and IRB apart from Uniquest Infra Ventures, Srei-OHL consortium and IL&FS showed interest in the project at the time of request for qualification (RFQ) but did not pursue further.
This project is one of the four projects cleared by the Cabinet in July 2013 for PPP ventures. The objective of the project is to ease the traffic congestion in the national capital region. The project involves connecting Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Palwal. It would be the first expressway to be built by the government, if the government builds it under EPC mode. The project is likely to start once the new government takes over.
Vishwas Udgirkar, senior director(infrastructure) at Deloitte informs that investor sentiment in the road sector is at its lowest now. Lack of clarity on traffic projections and tariff structure is a concern for the developers. They are not very forthcoming to develop projects under PPP model.
Source: The Times of India
290-cr expressway project, Eastern Peripheral Expressway, EPE, Ghaziabad, Palwa, PPP, PPP plan for Rs 6, Public-private partnership, Request for qualification, Sonipat, The Financial Express
