(FE)
The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has identified a clutch of 10 road projects across a stretch of 646 km to be bundled and bid out in the TOT or toll, operate, transfer mode. This will be the first of the TOT offerings the government has been planning and is expected to fetch it around `3,400-3,500 crore. Six of these road projects are in Andhra Pradesh and stretch across approximately 405 km.
The remaining four are in Gujarat and cover roughly 241 km. A senior official in the ministry told FE the National Highways Authority of India was expected to complete the bidding process by the end of May. A transaction adviser will be appointed to help with the process.
The concession periods for most of the 10 projects in the first bundle have either ended or are about to end. Moreover, they are viable projects and data from ratings agency Icra show the contiguous section from Gundugolanu till Anakapalli in AP, with four toll plazas in between, has been operational for almost 12 years.
