Brazil toll-road operator CCR has won a contract for the maintenance, operation, implementation of improvements and expansion of capacity of the 847-Km BR-163/MS highway in the center-west state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

CCR, through its subsidiary Companhia de Participacao em Concessoes, won the 30-year contract after offering to charge the lowest toll. CCR offered to charge 4.38 Brazilian reais ($1.89) per 100 kilometers, about half of the ceiling price that was set by the tender documents.

The discount to the ceiling price offered by CCR was in line with recent auctions. The government has auctioned off three other stretches of highway this year as part of its program to hand over 7,500 kilometers of federal roads to private companies:

• Odebrecht won the auction for the BR-163/MT road concession with a 52 % discount;
• Triunfo Participações e Investimentos (TPI) won the auction for the concession of federal highways BR-060, BR-153 and BR-262 with a discount of 52 % as well.
• Consorcio do Planalto won the tender process for the BR-050 highway concession linking Goias to Minas Gerais with a 42.38% discount.

The highway  BR-163/MS is fully inserted in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, beginning on the border with state of Mato Grosso, and ending on the border with the state of Paraná.

Under tender documents rules, the winning bidders must carry out at least 10% of planned investments before they can start charging tolls. CCR is expected to invest about R$3.4 billion ($1.46 billion) in the next five years to carry out the construction of additional lanes of traffic.