The National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), the investment trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India, plans to raise as much as INR 9000 crore through a mix of debt and equity.
According to reports, this capital will be allocated to six highway stretches, each spanning 250km, marking the latest attempt to monetize the country’s vast road network.
The NHIT is also priming for another round of fundraising in March, hoping to raise an additional INR 5,000- INR 6,000 crore for six more highway stretches, this time spanning 635km. Through these investments, the NHIT aims to generate around INR 400 crore in annual revenue.
“The InvIT is not inviting retail investors in the equity issue in the third round, and this would be considered later after the road projects mature, providing steady revenue streams with increasing traffic, giving an attractive investment opportunity to investors,“ one of the close sources aware of the matter, quoted in a media report.
NHIT managing director and chief executive Suresh Goyal confirmed that the third round of fundraising is expected to start after Diwali.
“Subject to approvals and acceptance of the offer by NHAI, the fundraising is expected to be a mix of debt and equity. We expect that our existing 130+ domestic and foreign institutional investors and new investors will participate in the book-build process for equity,” Goyal reportedly said.
The NHIT’s fundraising is part of a larger plan by the Indian government to monetize road assets and generate funds for infrastructure development. The NHAI has a project bank of 20,000km of completed roads and plans to offer projects worth INR 40,000 crore in the next two financial years. The ultimate goal is to generate up to INR 45,000 crore through monetization by FY24.
