The Ashok Piramal Group on Tuesday announced that it had entered into an agreement with IDFC Project Equity and Canada's SNC-Lavalin to invest $300 million to develop roads under the public-private partnership model.
In the joint venture company, Piramal Roads & Infra Pvt. Ltd., 51 per cent would be held by the Ashok Piramal Group and 39 per cent would be with India Infrastructure Fund (IIF), managed by IDFC Project Equity. The funds would be utilised over five years.
The remaining 10 per cent stake would rest with Canada's biggest engineering group SNC-Lavalin. “The joint venture entity over the next 3-5 years would bring in $250-300 million of equity. In the next three years, we will make it a billion dollar company by eventually listing it,'' Ashok Piramal Group's Vice-Chairman, Rajeev Piramal, told reporters here.
Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance would also be required for this joint venture as the Canadian firm would be having a 10 per cent stake in the venture. The government proposes to double investment in infrastructure to $1 trillion during the XII Plan (2012-17). “We see huge opportunity in the road and highway space and so we thought of tapping it. We were looking for a team that would stay for all future road bids,'' IDFC Project Equity CEO, M. K. Sinha said.
