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ublicly listed construction firm Waskita Karya is looking to develop a 125 kilometer toll road in Bali worth Rp 40 trillion (US$3.1 billion) in investment, as a part of the company'€™s aim to operate 400 kilometers of toll road by 2018.

Waskita Karya president director M. Choliq told a press conference on Wednesday that the state-run company hoped to start the project soon.

The toll road project will connect Kuta, located in the southern part of Bali, and Lovina, in the island'€™s northwestern area.

Choliq said his company was still waiting for the Bali administration '€” which Waskita will partner with for the project '€” to formally submit the proposal to the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry.

The toll road itself is expected to conclude construction in 2018.

'€œWe expect to start construction of the toll road soon and it might take around three years to complete the works,'€ he said.

'€œAs the project initiator, we will be granted 10 percent '€˜right-to-match'€™, which means we can win the tender by offering 10 percent lower value than our strongest competitor.'€

Choliq said that investment needed for the project was estimated to reach between Rp 35 trillion and
Rp 40 trillion. Construction of the toll road will be divided into four sections.

The first section of the project, he explained, would be 25.7 kilometers long, connecting Kuta and Soka through Canggu and Tanah Lot. The first section will cost the company around Rp 6-7 trillion in investment.

Choliq said that the Bali toll road project was expected to help the company meet its target of operating 400 kilometers worth of toll roads by 2018.

The company is working on several toll road projects, including a 21-kilometer toll road that will connect Depok in West Java to Antasari in South Jakarta and 57.5-kilometer Pejagan-Pemalang toll road project in Central Java. Both of the projects are slated to commence operation in 2016.

Meanwhile, a 21-kilometer toll road, connecting Casablanca in South Jakarta and Duren Jaya in Bekasi, is scheduled for completion in 2017.

The company will also start construction of its Medan-Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi project in North Sumatra next month that will span 30-kilometers and will conclude construction in 2017.

Waskita, which is among the state-run companies to receive state capital injection from the government, is aiming for Rp 53 trillion worth of investment projects, mostly toll road projects.

The investment projects will be carried out after the company concludes its Rp 6 trillion rights issue, Rp 3.5 trillion of which will come from state capital injection.

Bahana Securities, Danareksa and Mandiri Sekuritas have been appointed as the underwriters for the equity offering, which is scheduled in July '€” pending approval from the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

Waskita pocketed Rp 2.7 trillion worth of new contracts in the first quarter of 2015, or around 13 percent of its Rp.20.8 trillion full-year target, which Choliq said was normal for a state-run builder that relied on government infrastructure projects, as most of the projects would only start later this year.

The company, according to Choliq, booked Rp 1.4 trillion in revenue in the first quarter, up by around 40 percent from Rp 1 trillion in the same period last year. Its first-quarter net profit reached Rp 11 billion, a 16.67 percent increase year-on-year.