NHAI plans to raise funds

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has plans to come out with bids for monetisation of 10 out of 75 public-funded national highway projects in the first phase starting from April. The move follows the government's decision in August last year, authorising NHAI to monetise public-funded highway projects in the country.

There is good news for few companies of the infrastructure industry. NHAI plans to start bids in April by inviting tenders for monetisation of at least ten projects on toll operate transfer (TOT). In context to this, several investors including Canadian Pension Fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Fund and those from the US, Europe and Singapore have shown keen interest in buying them.

According to the Road Transport and Highways ministry, the monetisation of public-funded highway projects, could result in funds in the range of Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore. The amount raised could be utilised by the government to meet its fund requirements regarding future development like operation and maintenance of highways in unviable geographies.