Transstroy Bhopal Biaora Tollways Private Limited

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In January 2012, Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC on behalf of National Highway Authority of India) ) signed a 30-year concession (including construction period of 2 years) with a consortium of Transstroy (India) Limited and OJSC Corporation Transstroy (Russia) for the strengthening, improvement,two-laning, operation and maintenance, and tolling of 105.6kms of Bhopal-Biaora section of National Highway-12 from km 316/100 to km 423.400,in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The project stretch passed through the districts of Bhopal, Sehore and Rajgarh. Under the contract, the consortium was responsible for the design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance,strengthening and widening the existing carriageway to 2-lane road The scope included construction of new pavement, rehabilitation of existing pavement, construction and/or rehabilitation of major and minor bridges, culverts, road intersections,interchanges, drains, etc.The expansion project, part of the MPRDC Highway Development Program, was expected to ease traffic congestion and give significant stimulus to trade and commerce in the entire region. The proposed section on NH12 would connect NH3 which was an important national highway of the north-south corridor. The consortium of Transstroy (India) Limited (74%) and OJSC Corporation Transstroy (26%), established Transstroy Bhopal Biaora Tollways Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle, to implement the project. Details of the bidding were not available at the time of collection of this information. Government of India had sanctioned in-principle approval of US$ 28.2mn (INR 1408.5mn) for viability gap fund (VGF) grant. It may thus be inferred that the SPV may have won the tender through international competitive bidding, conducted by MPRDC, by requesting for the lowest upfront subsidy (viablity gap funding). There were 49 pre-qualified bidders for this project. Under the contract, the SPV was to recover the capital costs and operating costs including returns through tolling during the term of concession. Transstroy India would execute the EPC for the project. The project attained financial closure on 20th September 2012. The debt/equity ratio of the project (excluding grant if any) was 70/30. The estimated capital cost of the project at the time of financial closure was US$ 142.3mn (INR 7115.9mn @50 INR/USD). Financing comprised of 15-year term loan of US$ 100mn (INR 5000mn) and sponsor equity of US$ 42.3mn (INR 2115.9mn).The term loan had a repayment schedule of 49 quarterly installments and was priced at 12.25%. Loan was arranged by Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IIFCL and Union Bank of India. Construction on the project began in September 2012 and was expected to be completed by September 2014.