Meerut to Prayagraj Ganga expressway: Private sector interest a leg-up for PPP

At a time of tepid private sector investment in the highway sector, the interest shown by 11 players in the 594-km Ganga Expressway project that would connect Meerut and Prayagraj has boosted the outlook for such mega road projects. Apart from nine Indian companies, two foreign construction companies – IJM Corporation Berhad (from Malaysia) and Intopia Construction Pvt Ltd (from South Korea) —have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the Rs 36,000-crore greenfield project, easing financing concerns for the Uttar Pradesh government which must deploy more resources on social welfare owing to the coronavirus crisis.

Among the Indian companies to have evinced interest in building the expressway on a design, bid, finance, operate, maintain and transfer basis are Adani Road Transport, Ashoka Buildcon, Welspun Enterprises and Ircon International.