China Railway Corporation Limited (CRCC), one of the largest construction companies in the world, owned by the Chinese government, has shown keen interest in bidding for National Highway projects in India. The value of the contract is estimated to be about Rs. 35,000-40,000 crore, the Economic Times reported.
A team of executives, led by its Chief Economist Zhao Jinhua, met the chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Raghav Chandra on Monday to discuss the proposal.
"The ministry has projects lined up for up-gradation of two-lane National Highways totaling 50,000 kms, various special expressway projects of around 15,000 kms and a part of National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) over the next five years," Chandra said in a statement.
The Beijing-based company expressed interest in participating in the upcoming projects of NHAI under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and Hybrid annuity model. The state-run Chinese firm has also contributed to China's high-speed and normal, alpine and plateau railways. In addition, it has also conducted surveys and design services for highways, urban rail transit, real estate and infrastructure projects.
China Railway held an in-depth discussion with the road and highway ministry on various aspects of participation in NHAI projects.
"The visiting delegation enquired about the acceptance of Chinese technical standards. Their queries mostly pertained to finding financial solution with pre-requisite IRR, addressing the upward price fluctuations during construction in essential markets like bitumen, fuel, steel and cement during the period of construction under the EPC model," Chandra added.
In addition, the highway ministry official also sought details regarding the Chinese policy, models of concession and funding solution.
CRCC is one of the world's largest inter-grated engineering construction group with over $100 billion in revenues and a market capitalisation of about $250 billion.
[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]
