New South Wales (NSW) Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced a scoping study to determine if the government should retain or trade its 49 percent share in WestConnex, a Sydney motorway. And it will use the capital from a potential sale to invest in new infrastructure projects, expanding its A$97.3 billion ($64.5 billion) infrastructure program.
The report of the advisers is expected in the second half of 2020, he said.
The A$16.8 billion WestConnex project is the largest road project in Australia, totaling 33 kilometers (20 miles) of toll roads and tunnels, once completed.
The government sold its 51 percent stake in Sydney Motorway Corp., the entity building WestConnex, to Transurban Group for A$9.26 billion ($6.1 billion) in September 2018.
The announcement follows NSW’s decision in February to cancel the privatization of the state’s softwood plantation business after bushfires in the state burned about 25 percent of the unit slated for sale.
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