A consortium of Adani Group, Welspun Enterprises and China Third Engineering have put in a bid of ₹8,000 crore for the upcoming High Capacity Mass Transit Route (HCMTR) in Pune.
The bid is about 40 per cent higher when compared to the reserve price of ₹5,200 crore set by the Pune Municipal Corporation.
“Another consortium comprising India’s Gawar Construction and a Chinese firm has put in a slightly higher bid,” said Anirudh Pawaskar, the head of the roads department at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). PMC is the procuring entity for the project.
The HCMTR encircles a large part of the cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad area, to ease traffic congestion in the ninth populous city. This project is an elevated six-lane road, spanning 35.96 km and will have two dedicated lanes for the Bus Rapid Transit System with 26 stations.
Following this higher bid, PMC has decided to take another look at the tender.
The Corporation has now asked its consultant to look at the bidders’ suggestions to ascertain the reasons for the higher-than-expected costs. “We will review the report once it is ready,” said Pawaskar. When contacted, companies declined to comment.
PPP models
As per request for the proposal documents, the bidders can propose either of the two public, private partnership (PPP) models. The bidder could opt to build the project under the hybrid annuity model (HAM), under which PMC will fund 40 per cent of the project cost while the rest is to be financed by the developer through a combination of debt and equity. PMC will collect toll and repay the developer in annual installments over a 15-year concession period.
The other option before a bidder is to design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis, where the concessionaire will be able to toll the project for 30 years. PMC will also give the concessionaire advertisement rights at various locations along the project, according to the document.
Adani’s foray in transport
The Adani Group in 2018, announced foray into transport infrastructure with a ₹1,140-crore highway project won by a consortium led by its holding firm in Chhattisgarh from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Infrastructure-related projects awarding has slowed down in this year, as banks have tightened liquidity.
The NHAI is looking to raise ₹84,800 crore by offering 6,165 km of highways under toll operate transfer model by 2024, each involving a ticket price of about $1 billion with a 30-year concession period.