French state grants Atosca the A69 Toulouse–Castres motorway concession

In 2022, the French state formalised the concession contract for the A69, a planned motorway of about 53 km linking Toulouse and Castres in the south-west. The concessionaire was Atosca, a consortium led by NGE Concessions, a subsidiary of the construction group NGE. It had been chosen by the transport ministry in October 2021. The contract was approved by government decree on 20 April 2022.

Under the deal, Atosca would finance and build the road, then operate it and collect tolls until 2077, a term of 55 years. The contract set the framework for toll levels, including a starting price per kilometre and rules for annual increases linked to inflation. In a concession, the private operator carries the construction and traffic risk, and the state keeps oversight.

The agreement mattered because it fixed who would charge drivers and under what conditions. Supporters, including local elected officials, saw the road as a way to cut journey times to Castres and boost the area's economy. Opponents criticised the environmental cost, the length of the concession and the expected toll. Those disputes later returned in court cases and in the debate over the price drivers pay.