NHAI eyes Rs 54,000 cr via monetisation of 33 highway stretches in FY25

April 19, 2024: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) aims to generate approximately Rs 54,000 crore through the monetisation of existing road assets and project-based financing during the current fiscal year, marking its highest-ever collection through this avenue. In the previous fiscal year (FY24), NHAI garnered Rs 38,334 crore via the monetisation programme, encompassing initiatives such as Toll Operate Transfer (ToT), Infrastructure Investment Trust (InVIT), and project-based financing.

For monetisation through ToT and InVIT, NHAI has identified 33 highway stretches spanning a total length of 2,741 km across India for the fiscal year 2024-25. These identified stretches include routes such as Lucknow-Aligarh, Kanpur-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur, and Bareilly-Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh; Gurugram-Kotputli-Jaipur bypass and Jaipur-Kishangarh in Rajasthan; Panikoili-Rimuli in Odisha; Chennai bypass in Tamil Nadu; and Muzaffarpur-Darbhanga-Purnia highway in Bihar. These stretches contributed Rs 4,931.4 crore in revenue to NHAI in the previous year.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, the government’s highway monetisation programme received significant investor interest, leading NHAI to raise Rs 15,968 crore through the transfer of roads grouped into four bundles via ToT. Additionally, the InVIT route generated Rs 15,700 crore in revenue.

Through project-based financing, which includes sections of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, NHAI raised Rs 6,666 crore. Analysts had anticipated raising Rs 15,000 crore through securitisation in FY24, with the remainder and more expected in the current fiscal year.

Under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), the road sector was projected to contribute Rs 1.6 trillion or 27% of total monetisation between 2022 and 2025. NHAI has thus far raised Rs 1.08 trillion, which includes Rs 40,227 crore from project-based financing.