Highway Infrastructure Trust (HIT), sponsored by a Singapore-based arm of global investment firm KKR, has been awarded two stretches of highways by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) after emerging as the highest bidder with an offer of Rs 6,661 crore.
The highways, which includes two stretches on Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor in Telangana.have a total length of 251 km and have been monetised through Toll Operate Transfer mode. These were offered to the investors as ToT Bundle 16. Adani Road Transport, IRB Infrastructure, Cube Highways are the other bidders in the fray for the stretches.
“The concession period of the TOT bundle is for 20 years in which a concessionaire will be required to maintain and operate the stretch. In lieu of this, the concessionaire will collect and retain user fees for the stretch in accordance with prescribed fee rates under NH Fee Rules,” a statement by NHAI said.
“TOT has been instrumental in unlocking the value of the road network and has immensely contributed towards the development of the National Highway Network in the country. The success rate of TOT mode in FY24 was 100% and we have seen very encouraging responses from the bidders,” NHAI chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav said.
In FY 2023-24, NHAI awarded Four TOT bundles worth Rs. 15,968 crores against the monetization target of Rs.10,000 crores for that fiscal.
In line with the National Monetization Plan, NHAI’s Total Asset Monetization Program has crossed Rs.1 trillion which includes Rs. 48,995 Crore through TOT, Rs. 25,900 Crore through InvIT and Rs. 42,000 Crore through Securitization.
Bids for highways in ToT bundles 15, 17, 18 and 19 are still open. The concession period of ToT bundles is 20 years in which concessionaires are required to maintain and operate the stretches. In lieu of upfront payment, concessionaires are allowed to collect and retain the user fee.
This year the highway builder expects to raise Rs 54.000 crore from monetisation of operational roads, which is much higher than Rs 40,227 achieved last year. Of the FY 25 target, Rs 8,000 will come from project based financing and Rs 46,000 crore from ToT and National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT).
The highway builder has identified 33 highway stretches of 2741 km that will be offered in the monetisation drive. Of the 33 highways, 12 have been offered to NHIT which is promoted by NHAI. Monetisation through NHAI is expected to bring in Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore. The remaining 21 will be monetised through ToT.