A fresh offer has been said to be offered by GMR Infrastructure for restarting work on India’s largest road project, the 555-km-long Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad highway. The company has told the Road Transport Ministry that it will provide a corporate guarantee of Rs 4,256 crore in exchange for reduction in the annual upfront payment.
GMR Chairman GM Rao, who met road secretary Vijay Chhibber recently is believed to have made the offer to get back the project. In return for the corporate guarantee, GMR Infrastructure will pay a lower commitment charge to the government every year.
It has assured the government that the National Highways Authority of India will not lose out in the bargain, as the net present value of the commitment charges over the lifetime of the project will remain unchanged. The Cabinet will give the final approval for the GMR offer after the road transport ministry forwards the proposal.
Sources in the Ministry said that the proposal will require opening up of the earlier signed agreement and a supplementary agreement will be sign. Therefore, the government will take the views of the Law Ministry on the issue and , if approved, it will be forwarded to the Cabinet, the sources added.
Under the new offer, the company will pay a lower premium than Rs 636 crore originally offered, but would compensate over the years by raising annually the percentage to be shared with the government. If the government approves the offer, around 20 projects awarded on premium during 2010-11 will become eligible for the relief.
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