To support its asset monetisation cell the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started looking for outside consultants for a three-year period and has invited bids to shortlisting them.
The cell that is being set up under Member (Finance) of the NHAI, will utilise services of the consultants to deliver on the ambitious asset monetisation targets for the highways sector that will be set under the second National Monetisation Pipeline.
The pipeline will have a list of assets that will be monetised over the five-year period starting 2025. The potential receipts from the second pipeline has been pegged at Rs 10 lakh crore. Of the total the highway sector is expected to contribute Rs 3.5 lakh crore.
To meet this target the NHAI has come out with an Asset Monetisation Strategy Document.
The outside consultant will assist NHAI in creating and updating its register of assets for five-year asset monetization pipeline.
It will also assist in operationalizing an Asset Monetization (AM) Cell for updating and maintaining an asset monetization strategy document and conduct assessment and review of asset monetisation activities to ensure that objectives and targets are met.
The consultant will also provide assistance to NHAI in shortlisting assets for monetization and preparing an annual asset monetization pipeline and in undertaking any other analytical exercise pertaining to the asset monetization transactions.
The team that the consultant will deploy to assist the asset monetisation will have to place a team of asset monetisation expert, capital market specialist, asset monetisation strategy associate, financial and valuation analyst and other associate to assist the asset monetisation cell. The last date for submitting bids for the assignment is August 7.
To meet the monetisation target, the NHAI has plans to launch another Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and increase the frequency of offering road assets to investors through Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) mode.
By changes in ToT mode of monetisation NHAI aims to offer three ToT bundles every quarter instead of two. Under the new strategy one bundle will be smaller with the potential to raise Rs. 2,000 crore, one medium that can bring in Rs. 5,000 crore and one large through which it can raise around Rs. 9,000 crore.