Hyderabad-based SEW Infrastructure Ltd last week said the company together with Navayuga Engineering Co. Ltd has signed a definitive agreement with Uniquest Infra Ventures Pvt. Ltd to sell a significant majority stake in SEW Navayuga Barwani Tollways Pvt. Ltd (SNBTPL).

SNBTPL is special purpose vehicle in which SEW holds 74% stake, while the rest is held by Navayuga Engineering. SNBTPL is operating the Khalghat to Madhya Pradesh/Maharashtra border section on NH-3, under a concession agreement signed with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for period of 18 years. The toll project commenced commercial operations in April 2011.

The Rs.7,900 million (US$126 million) build operate and transfer (BOT) project included 83km of four-lane highway development and a 768-metre-long major bridge across the river Narmada.

According to local sources, SEW Infrastructure has been struggling with problems of execution and high interest costs and the company is trying to reduce debt through sale of assets.

Uniquest Infra Ventures is a joint venture of PLUS Expressways International Berhad (PEIB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEM Group Berhad and IDFC Limited.

This would be the second venture of Uniquest in the country after acquiring Jetpur Somnath Tollways Pvt. Ltd, which is implementing a 124km BOT project on NH-8D connecting Jetpur and Somnath in Gujarat.