President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited, on Tuesday (15), the works of the Presidente Dutra Highway, in the Serra das Araras region, in Paracambi, state of Rio de Janeiro. The work, under the responsibility of CCR, the concessionaire company began in April 2024 and are already completed.
Via Dutra’s stretch under renovation has federal investment of $ 1.5 billion, in credit for CCR. The funds were raised via National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), with the issuance of encouraged debentures.
President Lula highlighted the importance of road works that, for him, make a difference to the country’s development.
“There will be no possibility of this country to be competitive from an international point of view, neither in quality nor in quantity, if we do not have the ability to facilitate the flow of our production,” said the president during the event in Paracambi.
“Many people who don’t know can say, ‘Wow, spend $ 1.5 billion to take care of 8 kilometers of road?’ But when you get such a work, you don’t measure your size, its importance is not the size of it is the quality of the service you will provide for society, to truckers, the cargo and the hundreds of containers that pass this road every day at the time of life, ”he said.
The new tracks in Serra das Araras will occupy a distance of 16 kilometers, with four tracks per direction, shoulder and a safety strip, as well as two exhaust ramps, which aims to generate more comfort, safety and traffic fluidity.
In a speech at the event, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the work at Via Dutra is a financial engineering that has positive reflexes in the economy.
“There are a lot of people involved in this, generating jobs, generating productivity for our economy, cheapering our exports, cheapering products in the domestic market, which will have a more appropriate and cheaper infrastructure to make the product reach the consumer. So, this is what President Lula stresses that it is to make the economy wheel,” he said.
Enhancement
Via Dutra is one of the most important road connections in the country, connecting the capitals São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The region lives with a flow of about 390,000 monthly vehicles, 36% of them cargo vehicles.
Currently, works of new containments, Viaduct Foundation, drainage, as well as the construction of the industrial site and new ways of service are underway.
With the expansion of the roads, the speed will be 80 kilometers per hour, allowing 25% reduction of time in the course of the rise (towards São Paulo) and 50% in the descent (direction Rio). The stretch towards São Paulo is expected to be finalized in 2028 and the Rio direction, in 2029.
There will still be 93 restraints, eight bus stops, three catwalks and improvements at 14 access points and a marginal route will be implemented on the southern track, towards São Paulo.
Debenture record
The CCR group also manages the Rio-Santos Highway, which crosses the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Last year, BNDES released credit worth R $ 10.75 billion for works and interventions on both roads.
The amount will be released over seven years as the investments are being made. The actions are part of the new Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) and include the highest emission of BNDES and History encouraged debentures, worth R $ 9.41 billion, which has R $ 500 million in green debentures, associated with a direct credit of R $ 1.34 billion.
This system allows private companies to raise funds in the market to fund infrastructure projects. Investors have exemption or income tax reduction on the profits obtained.
In total, including federal government contributions, through BNDES, private initiative and other banks, will be R $ 15.5 billion in investments for CCR.
