Hyderabad: Four Firms Compete For ORR's 30-Year Lease Contract, To Generate Rs 7,000 Crore Revenue

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has requested bids for a 30-year lease contract for the Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Hyderabad on a toll, operate, and transfer basis.

Four major infrastructure firms, namely Eagle Infra India Limited, IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon Private Ltd., and Gawar Construction Limited, are in the race to bag the lease contract.

In December 2005, the government of united Andhra Pradesh established a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited (HGCL) under the Companies Act 1956 for the development of the outer ring road.

The HGCL is responsible for the ORR's maintenance and operations.

The Outer Ring Road is a road-cum-area development project, since its aim is the development of well-planned and well-connected urban settlements around the Hyderabad Metropolitan Area.

The ORR is a 158-km-long eight-lane motorway with access control and has a total of 19 access points.

The ORR connects several areas: Narsing–Kokapet–Patancheru–Medchal–Shamirpet–Ghatkesar–Pedda Amberpet–Shamshabad–TSPA–Narsing–Nanakramguda–Gachibowli. Further, service roads are developed with two-lane undivided sections on both sides of the ORR.

Currently, HGCL awards an annual maintenance contract to private agencies, which generates revenue of approximately Rs 400 crore per fiscal year.

However, the annual bidding process is time-consuming, and there have been instances where agencies have approached the court to extend the contract.

To overcome these challenges, HGCL has decided to extend the lease period to 30 years, generating an expected revenue of Rs 6,000–7,000 crore. The Cabinet approved the move in line with the National Highways Authority of India's guidelines.

"The technical committee started evaluating the technical bids first on Tuesday (4 April) and financial bids would be opened later. We are hopeful of getting a good competitive amount," said HDMA official, reports Times Of India.

ORR Facelift

The 4.5-metre-wide cycle track is also planned alongside the ORR for 22 kilometres in two stretches, in the western parts of Hyderabad, i.e., 8.45 km from Nanakramguda to the Telangana State Police Academy (TSPA) and 13.8 km from Narsingi to Kollur.

The cycle track would cover the areas adjoining the city's IT hub and rapidly emerging residential areas.

HGCL will implement the plan, inspired by such facilities in South Korea.

The Telangana government aims to complete this unique project in 2023 itself, before the state goes to polls in November or December this year.