NHAI: After getting bids worth Rs 16,000cr, NHAI aims at surpassing monetisation target from auctioning NHs

NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is looking at surpassing the target of raising Rs 10,000 crore from the auctioning of completed highway projects during this financial year as it has so far bid out four bundles of projects to raise around Rs 16,000 crore under the monetisation programme.
On Thursday, the NHAI opened the financial bids for two bundles of highway projects under the toll operate transfer (TOT) model for monetisation.In one case, Cube Highways quoted the highest bid price of Rs 7,707 crore, 15% more than the price estimated by the authority. In the second bundle, IRB Infrastructure quoted the maximum bid amount of Rs 1,683 crore, around 1% more than the estimated price.
“In October, we had bid out two other bundles of completed projects under TOT for Rs 6,544 crore. In the latest round, we received bids from six players for one bundle of projects and five bids for the other one. This shows the interest of bidders to take more completed projects for toll collection and operation for the contract period,” said a senior NHAI official. He added that the transparency in electronic collection of toll charges and the trend of rising traffic on highways also hold promise for future bidders.
Officials said they are confident of raising around Rs 40,000 crore through monetisation of highways by March 2024. Besides the TOT, the NHAI will raise money through InvIT and project-based financing as was done in the case of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.