Paraná state capital Curitiba has relaunched the tender process for a 35-year contract to develop and operate Curitiba's first metro through a Public private partnership PPP contract.

Following a request by a bidder, Curitiba decided to change a contract clause, clarifying that remuneration will be made by the city to the selected concessionaire through an annual payment. According to sources, the modification does not change any fundamental tender details.

The annual payment amount remains R$30 million (US$13.5 million).

The project has an estimated investment of R$4.67 billion (US$1.96 billion). The investment will be split as follows:

• R$1.8 billion from the federal budget
• R$1.4 billion through a 30-year loan with a five-year grace period and subsidized interest.
• R$1.36 billion from the private sector.

The blue line metro will span 17.6km with 15 stations (finally Santa Regina station has been included in the project). The project involves the stretch between CIC-Sul and the Terminal do Cabral. The demand for the project is estimated at 419,000 passengers per day.

Interested parties must submit their proposals on or before 25 August 2014. The previous deadline was 11 August 2014.

To ensure the flow of payments to the private concessionaire, the city has created a fund (Fundo Garantidor das Parcerias Públicos Privadas (PPPs)), which will be formed by a few of the fixed and financial assets of the city. It is estimated that the fund has a minimum of R$132 million.

In 2012, the city of Curitiba carried out a public consultation for the project but different problems made impossible the celebration of the tender process.

In October 2013, Triunfo Participações e Investimentos submitted the best Feasibility Studies in response to the Request for Expression of Interest (PMI) to structure a Public private partnership for the project.