Anchieta - Imigrantes Toll Road

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Ecovias dos Imigrantes Sa (Ecovias) won a 20 year concession awarded by the State of Sao Paulo in May 1998. The bidding process was competitive and the award criteria was the highest cannon fee to be paid to the government. There was no provision for contract renewal (assets were set to be returned to the state government). Ecovias undertook the responsibility for the rehabilitation and operations of a 176 km toll road, known as Anchieta-Imigrantes, which comprised four highways and two interconnections. The highways were Anchieta Highway (SP 150), Imigrantes Highway (SP 160), Padre Manoel da Nobrega Highway (SP 055), and Conego Domenico Rangoni (SP 248/55). The interconnections linked the Imigrantes and Achietas highways in two different points. The project also included the duplication of the Imigrantes Highway capacity. The estimated daily traffic flows was 200,000 vehicles. The total cost of the project was estimated at US$ 490 million. US$ 51.2 million was expected to be paid in monthly instalments to the state government during the concession period as lease fee (in order to calculate the real value of the lease fee, a discount rate of 12.68% was used; the Brazilian government has used this rate in other infrastructure sectors). Construction works for the duplication of Imigrantes capacity started in 1998 and Ecovias has been charging the tolls since then. The toll revenues during the concession period were expected to be US$ 2.6 million and the rate of return was estimated at 20.6%. In 1999, the IADB approved a US$ 155 million loan: a US$ 75 million direct loan and US$ 80 million syndicated loan. In April 2001, the BNDES approved a US$ 80 million loan to Ecovias (19% of the total that was set to be invested in the first phase of the expansion and rehabilitation works). The duplication works of Imigrantes highway finished in December 2002, and their costs were estimated at US$ 300 million. After the duplication of the Imigrantes highway, the capacity of the system increased from 8,500 vehicles/hour to 14,000 vehicles/hour. In 2002, a holding company called Grupo Primav EcoRodovias SA (Primav EcoRodovias) was created. Primav EcoRodovias was controlled by Grupo CR Almeida (65%) and the Italian group Impregilo (35%). As of June 2004, Primav EcoRodovias was controlling Ecovias, and two other toll-road concessions in Brazil (Ecovia - Caminho do Sol and Ecosul). In December 2006, EcoRodovias SA renegotiated an extension of the original 20 year concession for an additional 70 months to make stipulated financial readjustments.