States seeking pvt help to upgrade highways

State governments are gradually taking initiative as far as developing highways is concerned.

While the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) is under way, states are increasingly collaborating with private consultants to develop their highways.

Even as the Uttar Pradesh government has unveiled its ambitious Rs 25,000-crore, 950-km-long Ganga Expressway project, states like Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have forged partnerships with consultants like IDFC and Feedback Ventures for building new stretches and upgrading the existing ones.

With the Centre's increased focus on public-private partnerships (PPPs), states have been hiring consultants to not only prepare feasibility reports but also to help them in the bidding process.

SREI Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd is one of the consultants for the Ganga Expressway project, which will link Noida in western UP to Ballia in eastern UP.

India Infrastructure Initiative (III), a fund set up by Feedback Ventures and IDFC, is giving a major thrust to road projects in states.

"State governments are taking initiatives in various infrastructure sectors, and basically, it is the PPP model that has driven them to tie up with the private sector to bring more professionalism in handling such projects," said Vinayak Chaterji, chairman, Feedback Ventures:

Set up early last year, the III takes up projects on behalf of various state governments without any fees and later charges the successful bidder for its services.

It recently took up a major road project on behalf of the Gujarat government under which it would upgrade a network of village roads to connect backward areas with major national highways, ports and cities.

The 2,000-km-long road network, called Pragati Path, would be spread across the state. IDFC and Feedback Ventures signed the MoU with the Gujarat government last week.

Andhra Pradesh has commissioned a Rs 3,300-crore project to Feedback Ventures for upgrading eight stretches totalling around 1,226 km.

The state government has asked Feedback to first provide both the PPP techno-economic feasibility and the engineering design, which are to be completed in nine months.

Feedback will also assist the Andhra Pradesh Road Development Corporation in the bidding process.

Feedback Ventures last year received a contract for upgrading two highway stretches in Punjab "" the 50-km-long Bhawanigarh-Nabha stretch and the 70-km-long Daka-Barnala stretch.

The combined value of the two projects is Rs 120 crore. Apart from this, a Rs 1,000-crore ring road construction project to decongest Ludhiana is also in the pipeline.