NHAI invites bids for nine stretches under third round of TOT auctions

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited bids for nine stretches under the third round of toll-operate-transfer (TOT) auctions. Taken together, these stretches span a length of 566.27 km. Three of the stretches spanning 169 km are in Uttar Pradesh, four stretches spanning 243.47 km are in Tamil Nadu, one stretch spanning 80 km is in Bihar and one stretch spanning 73.79 km is in Jharkhand. The stretches being offered in Uttar Pradesh are – the 49.7 km Jhansi-Lalitpur (Package I) section of National Highway (NH)-25 and NH-26 from km 0 to km 49.7, the 49.31 km Jhansi-Lalitpur (Package II) section of NH-26 from km 49.7 to km 99.01 and the 70 km Lucknow-Rai Bareli section of NH-24B from km 12.7 to km 82.7. The stretches being offered in Tamil Nadu are the 52.3 km Madurai-Kanyakumari section of NH-7 from km 0 to km 52.3, the 64.2 km Madurai-Kanyakumari section of NH-7 from km 52.3 to km 116.5, the 63.5 km Madurai-Kanyakumari section of NH-7 from km 116.5 to km 180 and the 63.47 km Madurai-Kanyakumari section of NH-7 from km 180 to km 243.47. Further, the 80 km Kotwa-Muzaffarpur section of NH-28 from km 440 to km 520 is being offered in Bihar while the 73.79 km Hazaribagh-Ranchi including the Ramgarh bypass section of NH-33 from km 41.5 to km 115.29 is being offered in Jharkhand. NHAI has quoted an initial estimated concession value of Rs 49.95 billion for the bundle being offered. The last date for bid submission is September 11, 2019. The concession period for the stretches offered under the bundle is 30 years, as was the case with the earlier two bundles. Meanwhile, the central government is also planning to rope in an adviser for asset monetisation and provide guidance to NHAI on innovative ways to meet funding requirements.