Federal government will grant Paraná highways to the private sector

The transfer makes it possible for the Union to include the 1,100 kilometers of Paraná highways in the package to be auctioned, which adds up to 3,300 kilometers. The sections will remain with the private initiative for 30 years.

The forecast is that the concession notices will be published in the coming weeks. According to minister Renan Filho, the two lots should generate R$ 18 billion in investments, such as recovery of roads, duplication works and implementation of new lanes.

“This is the best model: strengthening public investments and also attracting private capital in order to boost national infrastructure. Over the last few years, due to the imposition of the spending ceiling, Brazil has become the country that least invested with public resources. This also made it difficult to attract private capital,” said the minister at a press conference at the Planalto Palace.

The model predicts that the winner is the one offering the lowest rate. According to the National Road Transport Secretariat of the Ministry of Transport, at the Lapa toll plaza, for example, drivers will pay up to 33% less compared to the corrected rate practiced at the end of the previous contract. In Porto Amazonas, the difference is greater: 36%. In absolute values, not counting inflation, prices fall by up to 28%.

Renan Filho informed that it will be decided whether the auction of the two lots, on the Stock Exchange, will take place on the same day or on different dates. Concessionaires must assume responsibility for the roads in the last three months of 2023.

The minister pointed out that the integrated concession of state and federal highways improves profitability, reduces toll rates and increases the amount of investment in adaptations.

According to him, four auctions of highways are foreseen in 2023, with publication of notices in the first semester. Among them, the BR 381, in Minas Gerais, BR 040, in the Rio de Janeiro-Belo Horizonte-Brasília stretch.