Empresas ICA, S.A.B. de C.V. will have five years less to operate the Mitla-Tehuantepec highway concession in Oaxaca, Mexico.

According to sources, due to delays in the land acquisition process and conflicts in some communities, the operator will only have 15 years to operate the asset. The project was scheduled to be operational by the end of 2015 but at the moment, only a 28 km stretch between Milta and Santa Maria Albaradas has been developed. The new deadline to finish the project is June 2016.

The project was signed on 17 June 2010. Months before, in April 2010 it had been awarded to Empresas ICA through an international public bidding process under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mechanism.

The project includes the concession for the construction, operation, exploitation, maintenance, and expansion of the 169 km federal highway, of which 70 km had already been built, with the remaining 93 km to be built through a PPP model. The road includes three segments: Mitla-Entronque Tehuantepec II, Mitla-Santa Maria Albarradas, and Lachiguiri-Entronque Tehuantepec II.

The total project investment was estimated at P9.32 billion (US$567 million).

The highway will link the city of Oaxaca with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, increasing the connectivity of the industrial port of Salina Cruz with central Oaxaca. The modernized highway is expected to promote the economic development of the region and the communities along its route.