SAO PAULO, June 15 (Reuters) - Brazil's government is seeking commitments for some 300 billion reais ($62 billion) of private investment in highways by the end of 2026 under a new concession model, a senior official said on Thursday.
That would mark a sharp increase during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's four-year term over his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, whose government awarded seven highway concessions from 2019 to 2022, representing 49 billion reais of investment.
"Our intention is to encourage the participation of new foreign investors in the Brazilian market for highways and railways," George Santoro, executive secretary at the Transportation Ministry, told a news conference in Sao Paulo.
The first auctions under the new model, which the government is still ironing out with the private sector, are scheduled for August and September.
Those auctions are expected to bring around $20 billion of investment in four highways: two in Parana state, one in Minas Gerais and one in Rio de Janeiro, Santoro added.
Santoro said his ministry has been in talks with companies in Spain, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, China, India, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, which have shown interest in investing in the new highway concession model.
Under the new model, the company which offers the lowest toll rates will win the license to operate a highway.
The new concessions would also include technological upgrades, such as replacing traditional toll booths with "free flow" tolls, charging drivers based on the distance traveled without the need to stop. ($1 = 4.8021 reais) (Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing and additional reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Brad Haynes and Jonathan Oatis)
