Brazil approves advance of US$1.8bn highway tender

Brazil’s transport ministry authorized the advance of a tender process for the 9bn-real (US$1.8bn) concession of the 232km Belo Horizonte-Juiz de Fora stretch of BR-040 highway in Minas Gerais state.

With the authorization, audit court TCU started evaluating all related documents.

“The federal government expects to launch the concession notice and hold the auction later this year. The new concession is expected to secure 9bn reais for federal roads, including new investments and operational costs,” the ministry said in a statement.

BR-040 crosses the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Goiás, as well as capital Brasília. 

The current concession is in the process of being returned to the government. In August, a court ruling forced operator Concessionária BR-040, a subsidiary of infrastructure firm Invepar, to maintain the services stipulated in the original contract until a new auction is held.

In 2019, land transport regulator ANTT approved Invepar’s 2017 request to return the concession, claiming traffic projections from 2013, when the contract was awarded, had failed to materialize. Companies are allowed to return concessions, but the process is lengthy and can involve compensation payments. 

To drum up investor interest, ANTT created a new format to offer the BR-040 concession. It divided the original lot into three lots, including the Belo Horizonte-Juiz de Fora stretch.

The other two stretches comprise 482km between Juiz de Fora and Rio de Janeiro, and the 595km Rota dos Cristais link between Belo Horizonte and Cristalina in Goiás.

The government already approved the Rota dos Cristais auction notice and plans to publish the one for the Juiz de Fora-Rio de Janeiro concession by year-end.