Peru Readies Irrigation Auction

Peru is getting ready to auction a concession to build a large irrigation complex near Arequipa, the country’s second largest city, Luis Carranza Ugarte, Peru’s Finance Minister, tells LatinFinance. The total investment will cost $420m, says the official, who adds Peru will provide the winning bidder with a $120m demand guarantee to mitigate some of the risk in building and operating the complex. All of the pre-construction analysis has been conducted. The bidding date has not been set but Carranza is sure the process will take place this year. The project involves an enormous swath of land, a dam and power generation facility.