Base cost of the New Central Highway will be S/22,000 million

Only in 2025, and after having completed the Definitive Engineering Study (EDI), the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) will confirm the layout and final investment amount of the New Central Highway – “Daniel Alcides Carrión”, whose base cost will be S/22,000 million, according to PMO Vías advanced to La República.

According to the developer of the project, which will be commissioned under the Government-to-Government (G2G) scheme with the state of France, with the approval of the final file of the Profile Review, the initial cost of S/11,959 million is officially ruled out, which required a “sincerity”.

Marc Chassande, project manager of the New Central Highway, explains that this estimate was made on a line that Proinvestment gave in 2018, with deficiencies that were saved to preserve the route.

From there, he maintains, there has been an inflation of more than 25% of the cost of materials globally, in addition to the adaptation of the work to a “first class highway”, with security systems, ventilation, safety measures, protection of water resources, among others.

“Yes, there is a cost to be honest for a first-class highway, which is approximately double the initial forecast,” he says. chassande.

Although it is not ruled out that the amount could be changed again – the work contract should be signed in April 2025—, PMO Vías maintains that its study enjoys the necessary “robustness” to ensure that the cost now requested is “realistic”.

Instead, the company hopes that the EDI, to be executed in 2024, can optimize the 185-kilometer work to further lower costs. At this point, rule out effects on markets, schools or public works on the route that starts in Ate and ends in Oroya (Junín), although it did acquire land.

“It is a pride to assist the Peruvian government with the best of French engineering to make this road a reality, which will be delivered in 2031,” Chassande noted.