NHAI borrowings jump over two-fold

Total borrowings of state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have increased more than twofold to Rs 3,38,250 crore in three years to March 2021 compared to Rs 1,22,561 crore as of March 2018, Parliament was informed.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said NHAI creates valuable road assets which are financially viable.

Gadkari said that tolling of the completed public funded road assets and monetizing the assets through ToT/InVIT modes are major steps taken by the government to generate revenue for repayment of the loans and further construction by NHAI.

With a view to ensuring a sustainable debt level, regular exercise for balancing its assets and liabilities is undertaken by NHAI, he added.

Replying to a separate question, the minister said during the last five years, 58,408 km length of National Highway (NH) projects have been awarded and 52,479 km length of NHs have been constructed.

Gadkari also said in the last five years, 4,358 km of National Highway have been constructed in the mountainous and border areas with an expenditure of Rs 70,733 crore.

To another question, he said the total number of plants planted by NHAI along the National Highways from 20172018 to 2021-22 (till October, 2021) is 223.94 lakhs. Around 55.10 lakh plants have been planted in 94 projects, completed by March 2021, Gadkari added.

Gadkari said there has been significant increase in user fee collection throughout the country after declaration of all lanes of fee plazas on National Highways as FASTag lane of the fee plaza with effect from midnight of February 15th/16th 2021.The fee

collection from February 15 to February 28, 2021 was Rs 104 crore per day approximately as compared to Rs 80 crore per day approximately in the month of February 2020.