India’s IRB Infrastructure Developers has signed a concession agreement with the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) for Nehru Outer Ring Road (ORR) on a toll-operate-transfer basis. The IRB Golkonda Expressway will make an upfront payment of INR7,380 crore ($1.1bn) to HMDA for tolling and operations and maintenance of the 158 km stretch of Hyderabad ORR, over a revenue-linked concession period of 30 years. The project will include a toll plaza at 22 interchanges, eight major bridges, 122 minor bridges, a flyover, four railway over bridges, 168 underpasses and a large number of culverts and causeways. Total service road length is around 294 km.
IRB Infra received the Letter of Award for this project on 27 April 2023 after emerging as the selected bidder in global competitive bids invited by HMDA. Virendra D Mhaiskar, CMD of the company said, “Considering our track record of more than two decades in arranging finances for large-sized projects, coupled with our key strength of maintaining strict and strong financial discipline throughout, we are confident of achieving financial closure within the stipulated timeframe and get an appointed date for taking possession of the project.” He added that the company looks forward to bringing world-class travel and project management experience for commuters and other stakeholders of the project.
