NEW DELHI: At a time when PPP projects in highways sector had taken a backseat, government's renewed focus on it has revived developers interest with projects worth about Rs 13,500 crore either awarded or in advanced stages of finalisation this fiscal so far.In sharp contrast, barely Rs 6,300 crore projects could be awarded in 2014-15; while the number of projects awarded was only two in 2013-14."Over-leveraged financials due to excessive exposure to highways and other infrastructure projects, equity crunch, constraints like banks reaching the ceiling as per sectoral exposure norms coupled with regulatory and other hurdles had resulted in developers shying away from PPP projects but continued efforts to boost the sector have revived their interest," an official said.Further, inadequate project preparation and lack of land acquisition on the part of NHAI had also resulted in discouraging prospective bidders to participate in new project bids, the official said.To address these issues, the government is taking conscious steps including emphasis on better project preparation and land acquisition, simplified procedures for appraisal, exit policy for concessionaires, amicable settlement of disputes, operationalisation of IMGs, amendments to the model concessionaires agreement and one-time infusion for languishing projects, he added.Besides, innovative project innovation models like hybrid annuity model was introduced and multi-lateral funding agencies like World Bank, ADB were roped in."As a result, participation of the Private Sector in PPP (public-private-partnership) highway projects has started showing signs of recovery...In 2015-16, one BOT (Toll) project has been awarded and bids received and are under process for five. The length of these 6 projects is around 665 km and estimated cost is Rs 9,200 crore," the official said.These include Solapur-Bijapur project in Maharashtra, Raipur-Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, Mukarba Chowk-Panipat in Haryana, Agra-Etawah bypass in Uttar Pradesh and Biaora-Dewas and Guna-Biaora in Madhaya Pradesh awarded to builders like Uniquest Infra, Essel Projects, Essel Infra, IRB Infra, Oriental Structural and Dilip Buildcon.Besides, IL&FS Transportation Networks has emerged as the lowest bidder for two highways projects worth Rs 4,174 crore in Maharashtra, bids for which were invited by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).Both the projects were earlier awarded to Larsen & Toubro but NHAI's inability to acquire required land had led to the developer exiting from the project.The official said in contrast to the current trend, in 2014-15, only five BOT (Toll) projects worth Rs 6,300 crore involving 734 km could be awarded.The projects were Aurangabad-Yedishi in Maharashtra, Kaithal-Haryana/Rajasthan border project in Haryana and Rajasthan, Bikaner-Phalodi in Rajasthan, Shivpuri-Guna in Madhya Pradesh and Hospet-Chitradurga in Karnataka.Exuding confidence that "this revival trend is expected to continue and gain momentum with time", the official said the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has been the largest spender in the first two months of current financial year.Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has been laying emphasis on PPP mode and had last month said, "We want to award projects worth about Rs 3,00,000 crore, through the PPP, hybrid or EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) model, in the next six months."Meanwhile, to accelerate highways building and salvage stuck road projects, NHAI has asked developers to come forward with a financing plan and justification for the fund infusion that they are seeking from the authority.The government last month allowed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to provide funds to projects that are in advanced stages of completion but are stuck due to equity crunch.NHAI will provide financial assistance from corpus earmarked to any languishing highway project in BOT (build, operate and transfer) mode that has achieved at least 50 per cent physical completion where infusion of moderate funding could lead to its completion.Of the ongoing 240 PPP (public-private-partnership) projects, some are languishing due to delays on land acquisition, grant of statutory clearances, local issues and shortage of construction materials etc.In addition to steps to revive such stalled projects, the government last month approved a special intervention for the projects that are in advanced stage of completion but are stuck due to either lack of additional equity or lender's inability to disburse further.