Brazil's National Transportation Agency (ANTT) confirmed that seven groups submitted bids to compete in the auction of the BR-163/MT concession. Seven groups handed in the required documentation Monday to take part in the auction of rights to operate the 851-kilometer stretch of toll road in the country's center-west.

The list of candidates is the following:

• Consórcio Rota do Futuro (Ecorodovias Infraestrutura E Logística S/A - Leader),
• Consórcio Integração (Fidens Engenharia S/A - Leader),
• Invepar,
• Companhia de Participações em Concessões (CCR),
• Galvão Engenharia,
• Triunfo Participações,
• Odebrecht.

According to the federal agency, the project includes conservation, maintenance, operation, implementation of improvements and capacity expansion of the BR-163 highway for 30 years.

The project, with an investment during the first five years of R$2.38 billion (US$1.13 billion), involves an 851km segment of BR-163 in the state of Mato Grosso. It will have nine toll booths and entail widening 454km of the highway, also before the fifth year of the concession. The road stretch will have nine toll plazas.

The stretch of BR-163 is seen as an attractive asset. Located in the state of Mato Grosso, the largest producer of soybeans in Brazil, the north-south highway is critical to bringing agricultural commodities to ports for export.