The Transport Ministry is planning to set up an infrastructure fund to raise capital to build new motorways.
The plan will help the government finance five inner-city motorways that will cost more than 192 billion baht to build, said Deputy Transport Minister Chadchart Sittiphan.
Under the scheme, people can invest in the infrastructure fund through commercial banks, like a mutual fund, and earn interest on their investment, he explained. Meanwhile, the government will have more money to finance its projects without incurring new public debt, Mr Chadchart added.
The infrastructure fund could provide a higher-yielding alternative to the low interest rates of bank deposits, he said, and allow citizens to jointly own the inner-city motorways.
Investors' money will make up 75% of the infrastructure fund. Revenues from two motorways operated by the Highways Department will provide the other 25%, Mr Chadchart said. They are the motorway linking Bangkok and Chon Buri, and the highway known as Kanchanaphisek road that links parts of Bangkok with Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya.
The 196km Bang Pa-in-Saraburi-Nakhon Ratchasima route is one of the five new road-building projects the government has planned. The motorway will cost an estimated 60 billion to construct, and will likely be financed with money from the infrastructure fund.
Loans will also be required to finance the project, Mr Chadchart said, but with the infrastructure fund, the government will not be entirely dependent on loans and the state budget.
He believes the fund will be a low-risk investment because it will be managed and overseen by the government.
Chula Sukmanop, chief of the Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning Office, said the Bang Pa-in-Saraburi-Nakhon Ratchasima route would likely draw the most interest from investors among the five motorways because it will become a major link to the Northeast.
Bidding for construction of the Bang Pa-in-Saraburi-Nakhon Ratchasima route is scheduled to take place this year. The other motorway project given high priority by the government is the 98km Bang Yai-Nakhon Pathom-Kanchanaburi route, with an estimated cost of 45.9 billion baht.
The three other planned projects are the 89km Chon Buri-Pattaya-Map Ta Phut (with an estimated price tag of 14.8 billion baht); the 118km Nakhon Pathom-Samut Songkhram-Cha-am (38.2 billion baht); and the 206km Bang Pa-in-Nakhon Sawan (32.3 billion baht) roads.