IL&FS Transportation Network Ltd has said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with East Nippon Expressway Company (NEXCO East), a Japanese expressway development company, to work together on PPP (public-private-partnership) projects.
The ITNL Group currently manages over 34,000 lane km of highways, of which about 12,000 km are in India.
NEXCO East manages and constructs expressways in eastern Japan. Currently, it manages 3,720 km of expressways, which are used by about 2.7 million customers each day. Toll revenues for 2012 were about $7 billion. The company also has about 280 km under construction.
Both the companies believe that the market for expressways in India is on the verge of a take-off and would become a large programme.
An IL&FS Transportation communiqué to the stock exchanges said the two companies aim to use Japanese technology and finance. The alliance intends to jointly carry out technical and feasibility studies and related work on potential road projects in India for implementation.