State Government authorized the opening of additional credit for the project; decision comes 2 days after the Court of Auditors prohibited blocking government transfers
The Government of São Paulo authorized the opening of additional credit of R$2.64 billion for the tunnel project . The decree that opens space in the budget of the SPI (Secretariat of Partnerships in Investments) was published in the Friday edition (20.mar.2026) of the Official State Gazette.
The announcement comes 2 days after the (Union Audit Court) a federal budget of R$2.6 million for the project. The amount would be contributed by APS (Santos Port Authority).
In the decision, the case’s rapporteur at the Court, , temporarily blocked contributions from the Union. The minister pointed to the absence of legal instruments that make APS transfers viable, in addition to the weakness in the agreement between the Union and the government of São Paulo.
The release of funds by the government of (Republicans) was already included in the planning. With the decree, the Executive seeks to reaffirm that it has the necessary resources to make the work viable. In the document, the São Paulo Executive defended the continuity of the contractual model and the maintenance of the project schedule, “with deadlines being regularly met”.
“The measure reinforces the State’s financial capacity to execute the Santos-Guarujá Tunnel”says an excerpt from the decree.
IMPASSE IN WORKS
APS and the government of São Paulo are going through an impasse over contributions to the work. The port authority says it was not included as a consenting party in the contract signed at the end of January with Mota-Engil, a Portuguese company that the construction and operation auction.
The port company controlled by the federal government claims difficulties in monitoring any resources that may be invested in the work, such as the contribution of R$ 2.6 million blocked by the TCU.
The São Paulo government states that the inclusion of APS is not necessary and could interfere with the project structure. The TCU defends the development of a specific instrument between the parties to guarantee legal certainty and supervision of contributions.
THE TUNNEL
The construction of the Santos-Guarujá Tunnel will be the largest infrastructure project in the New PAC. The concession contract will last 30 years, using the PPP model. The crossing between the two cities, which currently takes up to 18 minutes by ferry or 1 hour via the Cônego Domênio Rangoni highway, will take around 5 minutes via the tunnel.
The work, expected for more than 100 years, will be the first structure of its kind in Brazil and the largest in Latin America when completed.
The structure will have:
- 3 lanes per direction, one for the future VLT (Light Rail Vehicle);
- cycle path and pedestrian walkway;
- technical gallery for public service networks (water, energy, telecommunications).
How the construction will work
The tunnel will be built using the immersed tunnel method, established in countries such as the Netherlands, Japan and China, but unprecedented in Brazil. This process differs from a tunnel excavated in rock, such as a subway tunnel. Instead, it uses precast concrete modules, built on land and then positioned at the bottom of the canal.
The project is of the type “greenfield” –that is, developed without pre-existing infrastructure, based on estimates of future demand.
WHO WILL DO THE WORK
The Portuguese company, 32.41% controlled by (China Communications Construction Company), won the event.
With no experience in immersed tunnels, the company will rely on the expertise of the Chinese company, responsible for projects such as the underwater tunnels in Dalian Bay and the connection between Shenzhen and Zhongshan, as well as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge-tunnel.
The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link is considered the longest and widest continuous immersed tunnel in the world: 5,035 meters long, built in 80,000-ton sections and installed with intelligent transport and positioning equipment.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge-tunnel combines bridges and a 6,700-meter immersed tunnel, making it the longest underwater section ever built in a bridge-tunnel type project.
Mota-Engil offered a discount of 0,50% on the annual public consideration of R$438 million provided for in the notice. The state transfer to the project will be made from the beginning of operations and will rely on resources from the State of São Paulo and the Union. Here is the notice (PDF – 699 kB).
The other proponent was , which is already carrying out the work on Line 6-Orange of the São Paulo Metro. The Spanish company did not offer a discount on the consideration.
The low number of interested parties and conservative bids were already expected. Experts attribute this to the high volume of investments required and the technical complexity of the work.
