NHAI eyes ₹54-bn financing via TOT model

National Highways Authority of India
An auction of the second tranche of eight completed national highway projects is set to fetch ₹54 billion to NHAI and in this connection, the MoRTH has invited bids from private companies to hand over eight projects of NHAI under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) mechanism model. The first, under which the government auctioned nine roads covering 681 km, fetched the government ₹95 billion, 1.5 times the base price. The ministry has so far identified 75 highways for monetization under the second round of the scheme. Of the eight projects on offer in this round, two are in Rajasthan, one in Gujarat, one shared between Rajasthan and Gujarat, one in Bihar and three in West Bengal. The nine-road bundle in the first round has been handed over to a consortium of Macquarie-Ashoka Buildcon-Yes Bank. Macquarie has invested ₹42 billion as equity in the project. The investment by the Australian bank has come through its Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund II, worth $3.3 billion that invests in roads, airports and other infrastructure projects, said NHAI in a statement.

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