NHAI secures ₹2,000 cr road building funds

In its unfailing quest to secure funds for its on-going and upcoming road projects, NHAI has recently secured ₹2,000 crore for fast tracking its road construction activities. As a matter of fact, it is working actively on new road building projects and needs long-term money to meet its targets. It will have to generate worth about ₹1.3 lakh crore by 2020 despite increasing cost of land acquisition due to faster construction activities, Kotak Institutional Securities, said in a recent report. In this connection, India’s biggest domestic institutional investor LIC bought ₹2,000 crore worth of the bonds in an online primary transaction, whereby, NHAI offered 8.55% coupon on the bonds for the first 10 years while the rate would be reset after every decade based on existing benchmark yields then. LIC bought the first issuance of the longest maturity 30-year bonds this financial year, sold by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The newest bond sale has helped lift sentiment in the corporate bond market, which is projected as a viable channel for long-term financing in the road sector, said an official spokesperson.