BackIRB gets closure for ₹8,262 cr toll contract
The project length is 205.4km, including the expressway and a section of NH-48, the old Mumbai-Pune corridor
PremiumIRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd said on Thursday that its special purpose vehicle IRB MP Expressway Pvt. Ltd has achieved financial closure for its first and India’s largest toll-operate-transfer (TOT) project, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
IRB had been managing the tolling and operations of the expressway for 15 years until August last year, following which the Maharashtra State Road Development Corp. (MSRDC) called for bids for a new tolling contract of 10 years and two months. IRB won the bid in February 2020.
The project length is 205.4km, including the expressway and a section of NH-48, the old Mumbai-Pune corridor.
IRB had tied up the funds required for the tolling contract from a State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium that included Union Bank of India, and made an upfront payment of ₹6,500 crore to MSRDC.
Bajaj Consultants advised IRB on the financing.
“Achieving financial closure amounting to a whopping ₹6,610 crore debt for India’s largest road TOT project, in these difficult times was a massive ordeal, especially with more than half the stipulated time being tied away in a lockdown," said Virendra D. Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director, IRB.
Last year, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC had invested ₹4,400 crore in a road platform set up by IRB.
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