IRB Infrastructure hopes to raise Rs 3,300 crore for the Ahmedabad-Vadodara highway development project, which is the company's largest road project.

The project accounts for 38.65 per cent of IRB's total road projects order book being undertaken on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

“We expect to tie-up funds for Ahmedabad-Vadodara project by first half of February,” Mr Virendra D. Mhaiskar, Chairman and Managing Director, IRB Infrastructure, told Business Line . IRB had a debt of Rs 4,687 crore, with a debt-equity ratio of 1.67 as on December 31, 2011. The Ahmedabad-Vadodara project involves six-laning of 102-km stretch between the two cities and operating it for 25 years. It also involves value addition to the existing Ahmedabad and Vadodara Expressway. The project construction cost is about Rs 3,600 crore.

IRB has offered to pay a premium of Rs 309 crore in the first year of operations that will go up by five per cent every year.

The cost of funds is about 11.25 per cent for IRB now.

IRB has 1,362 lane km of highways under development, 4,097 operational lane km, and 987 lane km under award.

Of the company's road length portfolio, 41 per cent lie in Maharashtra, 33 per cent in Gujarat, 11 per cent in Karnataka, followed by Rajasthan (nine per cent) and Punjab (six per cent).

To ensure timely supply of stone aggregates for its Ahmedabad –Vadodara Project, IRB has acquired a quarry for Rs 9 crore. “Quarrying stone aggregates constitute 12-15 per cent cost of constructing a road project. This will be used as a captive facility by the company. We intend to use the quarry for our projects only in the area including the Bharuch-Surat project,” said Mr Mhaiskar.

Mr Mhaiskar said the company is on the lookout to acquire highway projects.

“We are looking at several projects — in some, construction is yet to begin, while in some the construction has begun,” he said.

>mamuni@thehindu.co.in

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