Covid-19 effect: Upcoming road projects may shift to PPP on weak govt funds

With the government finances getting adversely affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be a shift towards PPP-based road projects, a top IRB Infrastructure official said.

Addressing the company’s 22nd annual meeting virtually, the company’s Chairman and Managing Director Virendra Mhaiskar said the firm will focus on BOT (build-operate-transfer)-based projects.

“The (coronavirus) pandemic has impacted government finances for foreseeable future, and, hence, the upcoming awards will likely shift more in favour of public-private partnership (PPP) model such as BOT or toll-operate-transfer (TOT) projects that are funded by private players, and away from the current hybrid annuity and EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) models which put the onus of funding entirely on the government,” Mhaiskar said.