HCC Concessions has commenced the process of divesting its 100km Bahrampore-Farakka Highway project in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Sources told Livemint that the company is already in negotiations with investors on the proposed divestment.

The enterprise value of this stretch stands at around Rs14bn ($197.8m) – Rs15bn ($211.96m), against the total project cost of approximately Rs18bn ($254.29m)

One source told the publication: “The company has already started talking to investors and is trying to iron out valuation issues pertaining to the incomplete stretch within the Bahrampore-Farakka project. Of the 100km, around 77km is operational and tolling.”

“The company has already started talking to investors and is trying to iron out valuation issues pertaining to the incomplete stretch within the Bahrampore-Farakka project.”

The firm secured a provisional completion certificate as the project is 75% complete. The project has been operational since March 2014 and its toll collection stands at almost Rs4.5m per day, though this amount is not sufficient to complete the remaining section of the project.

The source added: “The balance cost of completion is around Rs3.5bn ($49.46m). Large part of cash surplus is going towards servicing of debt. Apart from this, there is Rs4.5bn ($63.59m) worth of arbitration claims, which are likely to be awarded. The key challenge for the firm now is to structure the deal to ensure maximum recovery.”

Debt portion of the project is around Rs8bn ($113.04m).

According to another source, HCC Concessions is considering exiting the concessions business to focus on becoming an engineering, procurement and construction firm.

HCC offloaded its Farakka-Raiganj highway to Singapore-based Cube Highways and Infrastructure II in September.

The company is the infrastructure development business of the HCC Group.