BR-050 is auctioned off with a 42,38% discount on tolls.
The Planalto Consortium won the bid by offering a rate of 0,04534 reais per kilometer in the auction held by the federal government this Wednesday at BM&FBovespa.
By Leonardo Goy and Anna Flávia Rochas
SAO PAULO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The Planalto Consortium won the concession auction for the stretch of the BR-050 highway between Goiás and Minas Gerais on Wednesday, offering a discount of 42,38 percent compared to the maximum toll rate set in the bidding terms.
With this, the government managed to kickstart its ambitious logistics concessions program worth hundreds of billions of reais, the government's main bet to reactivate the Brazilian economy.
The consortium --formed by the companies Senpar, Construtora Estrutural, Construtora Kamilos, Ellenco Construções, Engenharia e Comércio Bandeirantes, Greca Distribuidora de Asfaltos, Maqterra Transportes e Terraplenagem, TCL Tecnologia e Construções and Vale do Rio Novo Engenharia e Construções-- offered a rate of 0,04534 reais per kilometer.
The group beat competitors such as CCR, Ecorodovias, Arteris, Triunfo, Odebrecht and Queiroz Galvão in the bidding for the BR-050 highway.
In the highway sector alone, the government plan includes the concession of nine highway sections (including the BR-050), totaling 7 kilometers of roads that will receive nearly 52 billion reais in private investment.
The stretch of road auctioned this Wednesday, spanning over 400 kilometers, connects Cristalina, in Goiás, one of Brazil's main agricultural producers, to the border between Minas Gerais and São Paulo, passing through the Triângulo Mineiro region.
The government's intention was to also hold the bidding process this Wednesday for the concession of the BR-262 highway, between Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. However, concerned about the risks related to the participation of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT) in the highway's duplication project, investors refused to submit proposals.
On Tuesday, Transport Minister César Borges said that the government will auction off the BR-262 highway in the future, but there is no set date for this.
The government will also redefine the auction schedule. The auction for the BR-101 highway in Bahia, which was scheduled for October 23, has been moved to the end of the queue. The concession for this highway would also involve the participation of DNIT (National Department of Transport Infrastructure) in the construction work.
(Additional reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal)