Alagoas raises R$1.6 billion with two water and sewage concessions

The government of Alagoas raised R$1.6 billion in auction for the concession of water and sewage services in 61 municipalities in the state. The two auctioned concessions foresee investments of BRL 2.9 billion in the universalization of services

It was the second sanitation auction promoted by Alagoas. In September 2020, BRK Ambiental took the concession to provide services in 13 municipalities in the metropolitan region of Maceió for R$ 2 billion.

“This auction raises R$ 4.5 billion in direct investments for Alagoas today,” said Governor Renan Filho (MDB), adding the grant to contractual investments. “It is a very important auction for a state whose GDP is between R$ 55 billion and R$ 60 billion per year.”

Considering the three blocks granted by the state, the volume of grant resources and investments totals R$ 9 billion. “We built a way for our state to be closer, more equal and with more opportunities”, concluded the governor before hitting the hammer at the end of the event.

In this Monday’s auction, blocks were offered for the provision of services in four different regional units in the state. The two concessions have around 1.3 million inhabitants, equivalent to around 40% of the state’s population.

Block B, with 34 municipalities in the Agreste and Sertão region, was won by the Alagoas Consortium, owned by Allonda, for R$ 1.2 billion. Block C, with 27 municipalities on the coast and in Zona da Mata, was won by Cymi’s Consórcio Mundaú, with a bid of R$ 430 million.

The division into regional units, with the adhesion of several cities, is one of the determinations of the sector’s legal framework, to ensure that cities with lower income are sold alongside more attractive cities.

It was the penultimate last auction of water and sewage services in the country in 2021: at the end of the month, Rio de Janeiro once again offered a block of municipalities in the state, which had lost interest in the Cedae (State Water and Water Company) auction. Sewage) in April.

The sector has experienced a great dispute for concessions in the last two years, after advances in the rules that culminated in the approval of a new legal framework for sanitation.

According to an estimate by Abdib (Brazilian Association of Basic Industry), the sanitation concessions auctioned or to be tendered represent R$ 35.8 billion in new investments over the next five years.

“This hammer blow represents employment in civil construction, represents a reduction in hospital demand, represents a greater frequency of children in school,” said on Monday the president of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), Gustavo Montezano.

The bank is currently working on the preparation of sanitation auctions in partnership with Ceará, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraíba, in addition to Rio de Janeiro, which has already been scheduled. Montezano said that the BNDES’ financing portfolio for sanitation amounts to R$36 billion in investments.