Bharat Road Network Limited (BRNL) has signed an agreement with India Highway Concession Trust, an infrastructure investment trust set up by CDPQ, a global investor, for the sale of a build-operate-transfer road project in Odisha. The share purchase agreement provides for a complete transfer of ownership of Shree Jagannath Expressway Private Limited, an SPV for developing a 67-km toll road project from Bhubaneswar to Chandikhole in Odisha. BRNL is the largest shareholder, with a 40 per cent stake in the project. Project operations started in December 2011, with an initial concession period of 26 years. The enterprise value of the project is estimated to be in the range of Rs 18 billion to Rs 20 billion.
NHAI has signed initial agreements with 200 technical institutes to encourage voluntary adoption of highway stretches for research, etc. Out of over 250 such institutes that have consented to MoUs, 200 have become signatories. The authority has introduced an initiative to associate with reputed technical institutes such as the IITs, NITs and AICTE-approved engineering colleges for mutual cooperation in the dissemination of civil/highway engineering expertise for national highway projects. As per this initiative, the institutes have been encouraged to adopt nearby stretches of national highways on a voluntary basis and the adopted stretches may be used as a field of study for faculty and researchers, and for familiarising students with latest trends in the industry. So far, 18 IITs, 27 NITs and 207 other reputed engineering colleges have consented to the MoUs.