The investment plan for Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway is gradually becoming clearer

The Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway is proposed to be invested and built under the PPP method, a type of BOT contract with the participation of state capital (Illustrative photo created by AI)

Add positive signal

Exactly 5 months after receiving the directive, last weekend, the Ministry of Construction reported to the Government leaders on the investment plan to build the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway under the PPP form (Official Dispatch No. 3037/BXD - KHTC).

Previously, in Official Dispatch No. 114/VPCPCN dated January 5, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction) to fully absorb the opinions of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (now the Ministry of Finance ), coordinate with relevant localities to clearly determine the ability to balance capital and arrange state capital to participate in the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Construction Project (Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project).

It is known that in Official Dispatch No. 10487/BKHĐT-PTHTĐT dated December 19, 2024, the Ministry of Planning and Investment requested the Ministry of Transport to coordinate with localities to determine the level of decision on investment policy for the Project in accordance with the provisions of Article 12 of the PPP Law; clearly identify whether the Project is prepared by a competent authority or proposed by the investor to have a basis for implementing the Project preparation process in compliance with the provisions of the law on PPP.

According to the proposal of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces, the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project has its starting point intersecting with the North - South Eastern Expressway in Dien Tho Commune, Dien Khanh District, Khanh Hoa Province; its end point intersecting with the Lien Khuong - Prenn Expressway (at the foot of Prenn Pass), in Ward 3, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province.

The total length of the route under the Project is 80.8 km, of which the section passing through Khanh Hoa province is about 44 km, and the section passing through Lam Dong province is about 36.8 km.

The project is proposed to be invested once according to the planning scale with 4 complete lanes, roadbed width of 22 - 24.75 m, the project route runs parallel to National Highway 27C for about 1 - 7 km.

According to the proposal of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces, the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project has a total investment of about VND 25,058 billion, of which construction and equipment costs are VND 18,889 billion.

With a route length of about 80.8 km, a construction scale of 4 lanes according to the plan, the average investment cost of the Project is about 233,775 billion VND/km, much higher than the construction investment capital and total construction price of the project's structural components in 2023 announced by the Ministry of Construction. Therefore, the Ministry of Transport is requested to coordinate with localities to review and determine the preliminary total investment cost of the Project to ensure reasonableness and accuracy.

In a report sent to the Government leaders, the Ministry of Construction assessed that investing in the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project under the PPP form will mobilize social resources and reduce pressure on the state budget. The Ministry of Construction is developing a medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 with a capital of about 1.6 million billion VND to implement a number of important projects under the direction of the Party and the Government, such as expanding the North - South Expressway in the East, building the North - South high-speed railway, the Lao Cai - Hanoi - Hai Phong railway... Therefore, balancing capital for the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project from the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 of the Ministry of Construction is difficult to implement.

“In case the Project is approved by the competent authority to support the State capital participation from the central budget in the medium-term public investment plan for the period 2026 - 2030 as proposed by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, the Project is eligible to be implemented in the form of PPP; the investment process of the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway belonging to the Nha Trang - Lien Khuong expressway will be implemented before 2030”, the official dispatch of the Ministry of Construction, signed by Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Minister of Construction, clearly stated.

Regarding the determination of whether the Project was established by a competent authority or proposed by an investor to have a basis for implementing the Project preparation process, the Ministry of Construction said that the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province did not report this content.

The Prime Minister has not yet assigned the locality to be the competent authority for the project. After being assigned by the Prime Minister to be the competent authority, the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province will call on investors to prepare for the project investment according to regulations, or Khanh Hoa province will proactively carry out investment preparation work to meet progress requirements.

Regarding the preliminary total investment and investment rate of the Project, the Ministry of Construction believes that the preliminary determination of the total investment of the Project as proposed by the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province is basically in accordance with the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4, Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP dated February 9, 2021.

“The Ministry of Construction has issued Decision No. 409/QD-BXD dated April 11, 2025 announcing the construction investment capital rate and the total construction price of the project's structural components in 2024. Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee needs to direct relevant units to review and update to evaluate the investment capital rate of the Project to ensure compliance with regulations,” the leader of the Ministry of Construction recommended.

Need great support from the State

In the Submission sent to the Prime Minister in mid-October 2024, the People's Committees of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces proposed an investment plan to build the Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) - Da Lat (Lam Dong) expressway under the PPP method, a BOT contract type with the participation of state capital.

Son Hai Group is the investor proposing the Project; the unit preparing the investment proposal report is Truong Son Consulting Joint Stock Company.

The leaders of the People's Committees of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces proposed that the Prime Minister allow the implementation of the Project's investment and construction before 2030; prioritize adding the Project to the investment portfolio from the central budget in the medium-term plan for the period 2026 - 2030 of the Transport sector; at the same time, approve the investment plan under the PPP method, BOT contract type, and submit it to the National Assembly for approval of the investment policy; and at the same time, recommend that the head of the Government assign the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province to be the competent authority for the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project.

In Official Dispatch No. 3575/UBND - XDND sent to the Ministry of Construction at the end of March 2025 to clarify and explain some contents of the Project, Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee said that the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway passes through Dien Khanh district (4.5 km), Khanh Vinh district (39.7 km) in Khanh Hoa province and Lac Duong district (36.6 km) in Lam Dong province.

According to the provisions of Appendix III, Decree No. 31/2021/ND-CP, dated March 26, 2021 of the Government and the report of the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province, Dien Khanh district is located in an area with difficult socio-economic conditions; Khanh Vinh district and Lac Duong district are located in an area with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions. Thus, most of the Project is implemented in an area with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions (accounting for about 94.43% of the length), the rest is located in an area with difficult socio-economic conditions.

Pursuant to Point c, Clause 16, Article 3, Law No. 57/2024/QH15 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Planning, the Law on Investment, the Law on Investment under the public-private partnership method and the Law on Bidding, the Project is eligible to apply the maximum state capital participation rate of 70% of the total investment.

Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee affirmed that, through preliminary calculations of the financial plan, if the proportion of state capital participating in the Project is 70% of the total investment, the Project's payback period is 23 years, 7 months and 13 days. "This payback period helps the Project to be feasible to call for investors and banks to participate in investing capital under the PPP method", said Mr. Nguyen Tan Tuan, Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee.

For this content, the Ministry of Construction agrees with the proposal of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee.

In addition, if the Project is supported by central budget capital, the Nha Trang - Da Lat section (about 80.8 km) will have investment progress before 2030; the Da Lat - Lien Khuong section (about 18 km) will be invested after 2030, instead of investing in the entire Nha Trang - Lien Khuong route after 2030 as approved planning.

According to the leader of the Ministry of Construction, with its proven capacity and experience as the managing agency of the Khanh Hoa - Buon Ma Thuot Expressway Construction Investment Project and other special and grade I projects, the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee is capable of taking on the role of managing agency of the Nha Trang - Da Lat Expressway Project.

If this plan is approved by the competent authority, the investment in the construction of the Nha Trang - Da Lat expressway will be favorable when exploiting local resources, increasing initiative, promoting site clearance progress, licensing progress of local material mines, thereby accelerating the completion progress of the Project.

"This decentralization will create favorable conditions for localities to be proactive in planning and developing urban spaces, economic zones, and industrial parks on both sides of the highway, maximizing investment efficiency," the leader of the Ministry of Construction analyzed.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/ro-dan-phuong-an-dau-tu-cao-toc-nha-trang---da-lat-d281762.html