IRB Infrastructure was India’s first private concessionaire for a highway project under the build-operate-transfer (toll) model. While BOT projects went out of fashion for a long period, a resurgence of investor interest is visible lately. And IRB has again emerged as the preferred bidder for one of the two BOT projects on offer. Speaking to Surya Sarathi Ray, chairman and managing director Virendra D Mhaiskar explains why investing in long-term infrastructure assets is central to the IRB’s business strategy. Excerpts:
Tell us why you do you find BOT (toll) projects attractive, even as the engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) and hybrid annuity model (HAM) projects are relatively less risky for private developers?
The reason behind our preference for BOT projects is our asset-owner ideology. We have more faith in investing capital and owning assets for a long period of time, rather than just constructing a project and handing it over. Under the BOT model, we are tied to the project for 20-plus years – covering construction, O&M, tolling, commuters’ experience and taking responsibility for all of these.
