Nandan may design tech for toll roads
London, Feb. 2: Apart from the unique identification that every Indian will have, Nandan Nilekani may also be designing technology used for levying tolls on highways.
"I have asked Nandan Nilekani to suggest the best technology for toll collection (on roads) that can be implemented all across India. It will have to be user friendly and modern," said Mr Kamal Nath, the Union road transport minister.
He was in London looking for funds for his pet project — increasing the speed at which national highways are being currently built. Mr Nath wants 20 km of highways to be built every day by June 2010, well above the current rate.
India is looking for about $40 billion-$45 billion investment from private sources in road infrastructure over the next four years, Mr Nath said, adding that India is close to achieving $10 billion investment annually.
"Roads in India are parking lot for infrastructure investment in India because of the size of the road network and the concessions. India is not short of investments. We have had a lot of interest from investors," he added.
He had earlier visited London in September last year, looking for funds for infrastructure.
Mr Nath said that he had held talks with a major French firm which is keen to invest equity and pension funds in road infrastructure in India.
He also mentioned holding talks with an Australian major in Davos on the same issue.
After the changes in the model concession agreement for foreign direct investment there has been no problem in attracting capital, said Mr Nath, who was in London in September last year with for an infrastructure road show.
Most of the new highways planned by Mr. Nath will be built on a DBFOT basis – design, build, finance, operate and transfer.
The developer will arrange for equity and debt funding and recover the money through tolling. Infrastructure firms expect 60-70 projects worth up to Rs 1 lakh crore would be awarded over the next three months.
In the recent weeks, companies such as Hyderabad based IVRCL and Delhi based Era Infra have bagged single projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore each.
Compared to the earlier contracts of the national highway authority (NHAI), which tended to be Rs 400-600 crore in size, these projects are much larger. Industry sources say that there is also a plan for about a dozen "mega" projects which will stretch for 400-500 km.
The value of these projects could be up to Rs 5,000 crore.
AGE Correspondent
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