NHAI to monetise Chennai bypass among 33

CHENNAI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has identified 33 highway stretches, including the Chennai Bypass, to monetise during the current financial year through toll-operate-transfer and infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) modes. The total length of the roads that would be taken up for monetisation is 2,741 kilometres.

According to the agency, the identified stretches include Chennai bypass in Tamil Nadu; Lucknow-Aligarh, Kanpur-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur, and Bareilly-Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh; Gurugram-Kotputli -Jaipur bypass and Jaipur-Kishangarh in Rajasthan; Panikoili-Rimuli in Odisha; and Muzaffarpur-Darbhanga-Purnia highway in Bihar.

“The assets would be monetised through toll-operate-transfer (ToT) and InvIT modes. NHAI will have the discretion to review and change the list and modes of monetisation,” the agency said.

The authority has been successful in raising money in this route. In 2023-24, it raised Rs 40,314 crore through various modes of asset monetisation against the target of Rs 28,868 crore. The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had raised Rs 32,855 crore in 2022-23 through various modes of asset monetisation.

Cumulatively, the national authority has so far raised more than Rs 1 trillion (one lakh crore) from the time it embarked on the scheme.

Currently, MoRTH monetises its assets under three modes. The first one, toll-operate-transfer (ToT) model, is like auctioning a particular stretch of a highway to an investor who will to maintain and collect toll for a specified number of years till it recoups the investment – and earns a tidy profit. After that period, the NHAI will take over toll collection.

The second is Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT), an instrument on the pattern of mutual funds, designed to pool money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over a period of time.

The third mode is the project-based financing model that would offer all categories of investors an opportunity to invest in assets pertaining to highways and associated infrastructure.

Cumulatively, the national authority has so far raised more than Rs 1 trillion (one lakh crore) from the time it embarked on the scheme