São Paulo state to offer over 30 public school PPPs

Brazil's São Paulo state has authorized the offer of PPP contracts for 33 new public schools.

The 25-year contracts will include construction, maintenance, conservation, and operation of non-pedagogical services, the state government said in a decree.

The decree can be seen here, in Portuguese. 

Investments of 2.1bn reais (US$396mn) are estimated to be required under the contracts and the bidding processes will be held in September, via two lots, a state government spokesperson confirmed to BNamericas.

After a proliferation of concessions and PPPs in more traditional infrastructure areas such as highways, sanitation and streetlighting, contracts in the education area have now become more common.

"Both the federal government and the governments of the largest states, such as São Paulo, will give traction to PPP contracts in the coming years for so-called social infrastructure, which includes schools and hospitals," João Cortez, a partner at infrastructure consultancy Vallya, told BNamericas.

The government's strategy with these PPPs is to focus public resources on paying and training teachers and health workers, while the private sector takes care of the construction and maintenance aspects.

Lottery concession

The São Paulo government also published a tender notice to offer a concession contract for the operation of the state’s lottery service.

It will hold the auction on September 13. 

The 15-year concession is expected to generate up to 3.4bn reais in fees and taxes for the government, which will use the funds for the health sector.