The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has expressed its intention to monetize 33 stretches of national highways during the current financial year of 2024-25 (FY25) through toll operate transfer (TOT) and infrastructure investment trust (InvIT).
It was mentioned that the stretches encompass Lucknow-Aligarh, Kanpur-Ayodhya-Gorakhpur, and Bareilly-Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh, Gurugram-Kotputli-Jaipur bypass and Jaipur-Kishangarh in Rajasthan, Panikoili-Rimuli in Odisha, Chennai Bypass in Tamil Nadu, and Muzaffarpur-Darbhanga-Purnia highway in Bihar.
During the previous financial year (FY24), these 33 stretches, totalling 2741 kilometers (km), reportedly generated around Rs 50 billion in revenue. NHAI will have the authority to reassess and modify the list and methods of monetisation according to its own strategic plans moving forward.
It remains unclear which of these assets will be included in NHAI's TOT bundles and which will be transferred to the highway authority?s InvIT. It has been noted that NHAI has already released 14 bundles of national highways in the TOT mode. This particular mechanism grants highway entities the privilege to collect toll for a specified duration after paying an upfront cash amount to the authority.
The valuation process is determined through competitive bidding. Despite facing challenges in ensuring bids deemed fair by the authority, NHAI has managed to allocate 10 TOT bundles, generating a total of Rs 420 billion since the inception of the asset monetisation initiative.
