IRC Properties Inc. and its Chinese partners secured an ‘original proponent status’ from the city government of Makati for the proposed $3.7-billion Makati intra-city rail transport system.
IRC, a listed property developer formerly Interport Resources Corp., said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the unsolicited proposal would now proceed to the next phase of the Public-Private Partnership process after the project was accepted by the Makati government for “purposes of detailed negotiations on the technical and financial aspects” of the project.
Under the proposal, the IRC-led consortium would build an 11-kilometer intra-city subway system with eight to 10 stations to connect key points in Makati’s two districts with no cash-out on the part of the city.
IRC said the proposed subway would complement the mass transport projects of the national government, interconnecting with the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, the proposed Metro Manila Mega Subway and Pasig River ferry.
The estimated total cost of the project is $3.7 billion.
IRC said with a daytime population of 4.5 million, the project would alleviate the traffic coming in and out of Makati.
“IRC’s proposal is aligned with the national government’s aggressive infrastructure program as well as Makati’s goal to be a digital city. Not only will it move people quicker, it will allow people to be more productive and spend more time with their families. The project will also create thousands of jobs and reduce the carbon footprint due to lesser cars on the streets,” IRC executive vice president Georgina Monsod said.
Monsod said IRC recently proposed to increase its authorized capital to P10.5 billion from P1.5 billion.
IRC said several Chinese companies including Greenland Holdings Group, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Co. Ltd., Holdings Ltd. and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. expressed interest to participate in the project.
Greenland is a publicly-listed real estate firm and a part of the Shanghai Stock blue-chip index, while Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group is a construction company founded in 1956 and one of the pioneers in China’s construction and installation industry.
Kwan On Holdings Ltd. is engaged in construction and maintenance works on civil engineering contracts while Shanghai MinTu Investment Holdings is a Shanghai-based integrated investment holding group focusing on infrastructure, mass transportation, and financial services.
China Harbour Engineering Company is ranked No.165 as a Global Fortune 500 Companies and No. 4 as Top Global Contractors by Engineering News Record.