An improbable solution?

One day I was virtually immobilized in a traffic jam on that bridge. I was getting late for an important meeting.  In that moment of frustration, a news item about India’s experiment with infrastructure investment through private funding caught my eye. Two such projects were being taken up in western India. I was Managing Director of the Industrial Area Development Authority (AIADA) and this approach seemed a novel way out this everyday problem.  I consulted Infrastructure and Leasing & Finance Services Ltd. (ILFS) and some of the industrial units in the area.  Together we floated a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) – Adityapur Toll Bridge Company Limited (ATBCL).  This SPV was formed in collaboration with TISCO, TELCO, Usha Martin and other industrial units (that were facing problems in moving raw materials in, and shipping finished goods out), and AIADA. This Company was set up with the purpose of raising resources, constructing a toll bridge and collecting toll to service the loan. 

Proposed Toll Bridge: Courtsey Wikimapia

At first this seemed an impossible task to undertake. There was no legal authority for toll collection by a non-government body. Amending the law required extensive legislative action and approval by the President of India! Opposition from State Government’s Road Engineering Department was considerable. Building and operating a  bridge by a private party was unheard of back then. At some point the private companies that were partners in the SPV started losing heart due to the painful progress. The list of problems seemed interminable…

In the face of odds!

But the SPV persevered!  In spite of these hurdles the project continued to move forward. Legal issues were resolved and construction of the bridge started in 2008.  The bridge opened for traffic in July 2011.

Oct 30, 2011: A dream come true

Today the bridge carries almost 900-1000 heavily loaded trucks every day, and provides access to another 500 small vehicles daily! Congestion in the City due to heavily laden trucks has been relieved as the traffic from the industrial unite now skirts the densely populated areas as they head out to their destination. Level of automobile pollution has reduced palpably. According to the Police Department number of accidents in and around the old bridge has gone down. The new bridge has not only opened up a brand new corridor for urban growth but a door for more public private projects in the region.

The bridge, along with approach roads, spans 2.2 Km (1.38 miles) and was constructed at a cost of Rs. 760 M ($15M). 

This was the first infrastructure project under Private-Public Partnership in Jharkhand state.

This project reinforced a belief that bridging of any gap, no matter how wide, between improbable and possible is worth taking on!