INFRACORP DEVELOPMENT, Inc. is optimistic it can get the government’s approval to proceed with its P3.5-billion monorail project in Taguig City within the first quarter.
Infracorp President Kevin Andrew L. Tan said the proposal for the Skytrain is currently being reviewed by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), after the company was given original proponent status by the Department of Transportation.
“We’re still waiting for NEDA approval…Hopefully they’ll finish it by first quarter, they’ll consider it,” Mr. Tan told reporters during sister firm Megaworld Corp.’s event in Pasig City on Feb. 12.
Once it secures approval from the NEDA board, the project will be subjected to a competitive Swiss challenge where other firms can submit counter proposals. As the original proponent, Infracorp will have the right to match the new offer.
The Skytrain is a two-kilometer railway that will link Metro Rail Transit Line 3’s Guadalupe Station to Uptown Bonifacio, Megaworld’s mixed-use estate in Taguig City.
The railway will have a capacity of 350 passengers per five-minute trip, for a total of 60,000 to 100,000 commuters per day.
The company said it can build the Skytrain within two years, with initial operations slated for 2021.
Infracorp is currently looking for an operations and maintenance partner for the project, with Mr. Tan earlier saying that they were speaking with firms from Austria, France, Japan, and China for possible partnerships.
Asked if they have other infrastructure proposals under way, Mr. Tan said they are looking at transport-related projects but declined to disclose further details.
Infracorp last year planned to propose another monorail project that would connect Megaworld’s Eastwood City to Santolan Road. The company said it has already held preliminary discussions with local government units for the proposal.
Aside from transport projects, Infracorp is also part of the consortium of seven conglomerates that proposed to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, with the others being Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings, Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
The consortium was granted OPS for the airport rehab last year, and the proposal is now with the NEDA board for approval.
Infracorp is the infrastructure arm of tycoon Andrew L. Tan’s holding firm, Alliance Global Group, Inc., which has core interests in property, gaming, liquor, and quick service restaurants. — Arra B. Francia

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