Most of the funds from the equity raising will be either for entering into the build-operate-transfer (BOT) space pan-India or we will look into acquisitions outside the country. We also are looking into capital investment in the country. Join discussion...

If Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has his way, Los Angeles County will soon embark on a commuter rail building boom the likes of which the region has never seen. The mayor today will unveil an ambitious but politically risky transportation plan that fast-tracks several high-profile rail projects to be completed within the next decade. That's a big speed-up, because officials have generally been talking about completing them within 30 years. Join discussion...

Local authorities may increasingly decide to act as commercial lenders on major waste infrastructure deals as the pot of PFI money begins to dry up, a waste project finance expert claimed yesterday Join discussion...

The PPP projects are supposed to cover 150 kilometres of national highways. These are to be managed in three packages: sections of the D1 highway make up the first and third packages; while construction of parts of the R1 dual carriageway in central Slovakia making up the second package. Join discussion...

We are progressing with the IFC," said Transjamaica Highway (TJH) General Manager Guillaume Dubois in a written response to the Business Observer. "Discussions are still ongoing with these two multilateral banks (IDB and IFC), as well as with two other multilateral institutions including European Investment Bank and Proparco." Join discussion...

Carillion, the listed construction group, will raise up to £100m by selling equity stakes in a range of public private partnership (PPP) contracts, including spy centre GCHQ. The Dutch Infrastructure Fund, which raised €200m (£172m) for investments last year, and rival Innisfree are among potential bidders. The stakes within the portfolio might be sold piecemeal because in some there are joint-venture partners that have first right of refusal. Join discussion...

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited comments from various stakeholders on a pure ‘annuity’ and ‘hybrid’ model to implement highway projects on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The ‘hybrid’ model is broadly an indirect way for the NHAI to offer the developers a higher level of viability gap funding (VGF) in the existing BOT (toll) model for four-laning of highways. Join discussion...

US´s Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood met with a variety of state governors and officials last week to discuss the $8 billion high-speed rail element of the recovery bill. States have yet to formally submit their applications for the funds, but I want to present you the main information that was presented in that meeting. Join discussion...

This summer, California officials will be vying against other states to get funding for a planned high-speed rail corridor that would ferry passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in a 2-hour, 40-minute trip. Voters approved $9 billion in bonds for the project in November -- and promoters hope the federal government and the private sector will kick in enough money to help them complete the $34-billion first phase. Join discussion...

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to lend EUR 1.2 billion to Poland for the construction of the remaining section of A2 motorway leading to the German border on the way to Berlin. It is also to provide EUR 565 million for the Warsaw ring road. In the former investment project the loan is to cover 70% of the cost, while in the latter – 50%. This is the first case of EIB’s crucial involvement in a private or concession project in Poland. EIB is the main creditor but talks with commercial banks concerning the outstanding amount are also in progress, TVN24 reports. Join discussion...