The government has set the aim of building 10,000 km of highways in the next financial year and raising Rs 30,000 crore from monetisation of road assets.
The road construction target for 2025-26 is lower than 10,421 crore for the current financial year and the monetisation target is also lower than Rs 39,000 crore expected for 2024-25, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has informed the Department Related Parliamentary Committee on Transport.
The construction target for next financial year includes the development of 1,100 km of highways in the North-Eastern States and 750 km in tribal areas. Also, a high-speed corridor network covering 5,800 km is also planned to be operationalised, the committee was informed.
The target for monetisation next FY will be achieved through Toll Operate Transfer and Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) mode. Each mode of monetisation is expected to bring in Rs 15,000 crore each. No target has been kept for project based financing which involves debt raising against identified assets. The asset backed financing has been used on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has shortlisted 24 highways assets of 1472 km length that may be monetised in the next financial year.
This financial year against the target of Rs 39,000 crore around Rs 6,661 crore has already been realised through monetisation of 251 km of highways through ToT. Bids for two more ToT bundles are already in and these are expected to bring Rs 18,000 crore.
Through National Highways Infrastructure Trust (NHIT) another Rs 20,000 crore is expected through monetisation of 12 road assets totalling over 844 km in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. From project based financing Rs 2,775 has been raised against the target of Rs 9,000 crore this FY.
Funds raised through InvIT are primarily utilized for repayment of debt. Monetisation funds raised through TOT are deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India and these are further ring fenced into the MORTH’s Budget.
The ministry is also aiming to go big on attracting private investment in highway development in 2025-26. “The Ministry aims to secure ₹35,000 crore in private investment for highway projects during the FY 2025-26 year. Furthermore, 30% of the total awarded highway projects is being targeted to be executed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model,” the standing committee was informed.
The next year’s budget has allocated Rs 2.71 lakh crore for central sector roads. At present 37,000 km of NH projects are currently under execution, with 15,000 km completed as of December 2024.