The Forty-fourth PPPAC (Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee) meeting, chaired by Secretary (Economic Affairs), Ministry of Finance met on June 20, 2011 and granted approval to 6 proposals of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.As you may already know there are some Guidelines that describe the procedure to follow for the appraisal of Indian PPP projects. The mentioned Guidelines apply to all PPP projects that comply with the following:

• being sponsored by Central Government Ministries or Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs), statutory authorities or other entities under their administrative control; and
• having capital costs exceeding Rs. 100 crore or where the underlying assets are valued at a sum greater than Rs. 100 crore.

After a project is identified, it must follow the following steps before being awarded:

1. 'In Principle' Approval of PPPAC (Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee)
2. Expression of Interest (in the form of Request for Qualification (RFQ))
3. Formulation of Project Documents: including the agreements to be entered into with the concessionaire detailing the terms of the concession and the rights and obligations of the various parties.
4. Appraisal/Approval of PPPAC (Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee)
5. Invitation of Bids (in the form of Request for Proposals)

The list of projects that have been approved and that subsequently can go to a request for proposal (RFP) step is the following:

• Project: Six laning of Kishangarh Udaipur Ahmedabad section of NH 79A, NH79, NH 76 and NH 8 on BOT (Toll) in Rajasthan and Gujarat under NHDP Phase (This is the second mega road project)
• Total Project cost: Rs. 5387.3 crore ($1,200 million). See shortlisted bidders here.

• Project: Four laning of Lucknow Sultanpur section of NH 56 from km 11.500 to km 135.00 on BOT(Toll) in the State of Uttar Pradesh under NHDP Phase IV:
• Total Project cost: Rs.1013.0 crore ($225 million)

• Project: Four laning of Angul-Sambalpur section of NH 42 from km 112.00 to km 265.00 on DBNFOT (Toll) in the State of Orissa under NHDP Phase I:
• Total Project cost: Rs.1220.3 crore ($267 million)

• Project: Two/four laning of Birmitrapur to Barkote section from km 211.200 to km 336.857 of NH 23 in the state of  Orissa, under NHDP Phase IV B on DBFOT (Toll) basis:
• Total Project cost: Rs.778.1 crore ($1,200 million)

• Project: Four laning with paved shoulder of Bhopal to Biaora section (km 316/10 to km 423.40) of NH 12 in the State of Madhya Pradesh
• Total Project cost: 704.2 crore ($173 million)

• Project: Four laning of Rewa to MP/UP Border of NH 7 on PPP basis following DBFOT (Toll) in the State of  Madhya Pradesh (km 229/10 to km 140/6):
• Total Project cost: Rs. 670.8 crore ($149 million)

See the press release here.