GMR Infrastructure Ltd plans to operationalise two toll road projects by July-end.

The two projects are Hungund (Bagalkote)-Hospet (Bellary) highway toll road project in Karnataka and Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway toll road project in Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference to announce the company's fourth quarter performance, Mr Arun Kumar Sharma, CEO GMR Highways, said: “The Hungund-Hospet project is the company's first project in Karnataka. This road will be partially operational by July.”

“The Karnataka project is a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) toll project with a concession period of 19 years (which includes the construction time of 30 months). The project cost is Rs 1,650 crore and we are involved in design, construction, development, finance and of this 99.05 km stretch on NH 13,” he added.

The company won the project through an international competitive bid from the National Highways Authority of India, this project is being developed by the consortium of GMR Group and Oriental Structural Engineers.

Hyderabad-Vijayawada

The second road project to be operational is the Hyderabad-Vijayawada project. This will be thrown open by July-end. The project in Andhra Pradesh, built at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore, is also on BOT Toll basis covering a distance of 181 km on NH-9.

Mr Sharma said “The project entails designing, engineering, financing, procuring, constructing, operating and maintaining of the four-six lane of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada section in Andhra Pradesh.”

The project is being implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by the group for a concession period of 25 years.

>anil.u@thehindu.co.in