Tata, Actis to bid for $2-billion road projects

Tata Group and private equity firm Actis are looking to bid for $2-billion of road projects in India over the next five years.

Italy’s biggest toll operator, Atlantia, will also be part of the consortium.

As the country has started focusing mainly on building of roads, bridges, airports and power plants, it expects private firms to fund half of a projected $1-trillion in infrastructure between 2012 and 2017.

TRIL Roads Pvt Ltd, a unit of unlisted Tata Realty & Infrastructure, will invest $122.5-million and Actis will contribute $77.5-million for the roads and highway projects.

Atlantia, which is a technical partner of Tata Realty, has agreed to invest $300-million to pick up a stake in special purpose vehicles to be floated for setting up the projects.

Another $300-million will be available from the Indian government as viability gap funding and the remaining $1.3-billion will be raised from financial institutions.