Brazil's São Paulo state, through the state transportation agency of São Paulo (ARTESP), has announced that five teams have bid for the Rodovia dos Tamoios highway PPP project.

Although the final composition of teams have not been revealed, the following companies are understood to have submitted bids: Ecorodovias - Odebrecht, Triunfo Participações, Galvão Engenharia, Queiroz Galvão and a consortium of Acciona and J&F Investimentos are involved in the tender process.

The preferred bidder will be declared in August and it is estimated that the contract will be signed in October or November.

The project would be the first PPP project in the state of Sao Paulo given that other similar contracts were road concessions, which another legal instrument according to Brazilian law.

The estimated total project investment is approximately R$ 3.9 billion (US$1.75 billion) and the concession period will be 30 years. The expected internal rate of return (IRR) for the project is 8 % according to a project presentation.

The road will be tolled but the concessionaire will receive annual payments from the Government, which also add resources to the total cost of the project.

The highway "Rodovia dos Tamoios"  is partly dual-lane and partly single-lane, and runs from the city of São José dos Campos, located in the Paraíba River valley in the upper plateau of São Paulo to the coastal lowlands of the city of Caraguatatuba.

The object of the project is the civil works on the stretch between km 60 +480 km to 82 +000 km of the SP-099 highway, 'Rodovia dos Tamoios.'

The contract also includes the operation and maintenance of the SP-099 highway, 'Rodovia dos Tamoios', between 11 +500 km to 83 +400 km, Caraguatatuba bypass and São Sebastião bypass.