The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set an ambitious target to raise Rs 45,000 crore through the monetisation of 33 projects during the current financial year.
This goal represents a substantial increase of nearly 12% compared to the previous fiscal year’s proceeds. These projects, spanning a cumulative length of 2,742 kilometres and located across 12 states, are poised to attract significant investor interest. NHAI plans to monetise these assets primarily through Toll Operate Transfer (TOT) and Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) models. Under the TOT model, successful bidders will make upfront payments to NHAI in exchange for the right to maintain, operate, and collect toll revenue from the projects over a period of 20 years. On the other hand, the InvIT model functions similarly to a mutual fund, allowing both individual and institutional investors to directly invest in infrastructure projects and earn returns from the income generated.
An NHAI official expressed confidence in surpassing the monetisation target, citing the attractiveness of the identified projects to investors and the robust trend of toll collection along these stretches. Notable projects in the pipeline include the Kanpur-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur stretch covering 333 kilometres, the Gurgaon-Jaipur stretch spanning 226 kilometres, and the Haridwar-Muzaffarpur and Chennai Bypass stretches. The annual toll collection from these 33 identified projects amounts to approximately Rs 4,931 crore, highlighting the revenue potential for investors. NHAI’s monetisation efforts align with the government’s national asset monetisation pipeline, which aims to unlock the value of infrastructure assets across various sectors. In the road and highway sector alone, NHAI aims to monetise projects worth around Rs 1.6 lakh crore by March 2025. With the highway sector already achieving monetisation of Rs 1.1 lakh crore, the focus remains on accelerating the pace of monetisation to harness the full potential of infrastructure assets and fuel economic growth.
