India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has projected a neutral outlook for the country's transport infrastructure sector in FY27, citing a stable profile of operational assets and satisfactory growth in highway toll revenue. The agency noted that anticipated increases in road project awards by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through the hybrid annuity model (HAM) and the build, operate and transfer (BOT) route, alongside a robust infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) ecosystem and steady domestic air traffic growth, underpin the assessment.

In HAM, project cost is initially shared between the government and the private developer with the balance paid through regular annuity payments, while in BOT the developer bears the full cost and recovers it via toll collection over an extended concession. Ind-Ra expects toll roads to maintain strong revenue growth in the rest of FY27, supported by economic demand and rising toll rates, even as nearly half of under-construction NHAI HAM projects face delays exceeding 12 months owing to land, workfront and approvals issues.

Ind-Ra observed that operational HAM projects show strong sponsors monetising assets and that newer sponsors are increasingly raising debt. The agency said competition intensity in HAM bids has eased following an increase in package size and tighter net worth requirements issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on July 10 last year. It highlighted that infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) facilitate sponsor capital flow through regulated monetisation paths, with assets under management at Rs 3,168 bn as of March 2026 and forecasts of around Rs 6,000 bn by FY30, with HAM assets potentially reaching Rs 1,000 bn.

The report noted amendments to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy capping combined bank exposure to a borrowing InvIT at 49 per cent of asset value, beyond which non-convertible debentures may be required, and suggested InvITs should be able to access capital markets given robust credit profiles and sponsor backing. Ind-Ra revised the airport rating outlook to stable and maintained a neutral aviation outlook for FY27, citing higher fuel costs and geopolitical tensions that have weighed on international traffic while domestic demand remains resilient.