Singapore's Cube wins ₹5,011-cr highway project on ToT model

Singapore-based toll road operator Cube Highways and Infrastructure has emerged as the successful bidder for the third bundle of Toll-Operate-Transfer (ToT) highway projects auctioned by NHAI, by placing the highest bid of ₹5,011 crore. Cube Highways is an independent, professionally-managed company, managing and operating a portfolio of toll roads in India. The Cube Highways bid is a tad higher than the reserve price of ₹4,994 crores set by NHAI for about 566 km of highways across Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar. About 43 percent of the highway bundle in the third round is under annuity, so the maintenance obligation is already on the annuity concessionaire. Four projects in the third bundle are on annuity, while five are EPC contracts. The other two price bids for the third ToT bundle were below the reserve price — a consortium of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and L&T IDPL quoted ₹4,230 crore, while IRB placed a bid of ₹3,510 crore. In the first ToT bundle, nine contiguous stretches of highways totaling 680 km generated a premium of $500 million for NHAI, translating into a premium of about $1 million per km. A consortium of Ashoka Buildcon and Australia’s Macquarie Group placed the winning bid of $1.5 billion against a reserve price of $1 billion. NHAI is looking to raise ₹84,800 crore by offering 6,165 kms of highways under ToT by 2024, each involving a ticket price of about $1 billion with a 30-year concession period.