Four companies emerge as potential bidders for nine NHAI roads spread across India

As reported, nine road stretches of around 566 km running through Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Tamil Nadu that were put up for auctioning under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), are expected to receive bids from Adani Enterprises, Cube Highways and Infrastructure, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and IRB Infrastructure.The deadline for submitting bids is set as September 30, and although initially, over 20 bidders showed interest through expressions of interest (EoI), currently only the four companies have emerged as potential bidders.The agency has set the initial estimated concession value (IECV, or reserve price) for this TOT bundle at Rs 49.95 billion.The TOT model, which is an attempt by the government to push forward the monetisation of public infrastructure and build new assets, has included the third bundle under its route. Reportedly, it is also speculated that there is a higher chance of receiving increased interest from foreign investors as compared to local developers.