Delhi-Mumbai Expressway raises Rs 18,456 cr from bonds and loans

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME) Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), raised Rs 18,456 crore through bonds and loans to fund the project.

The company will launch its maiden local bond sale by December. It is also in talks with local and foreign lenders, including the State Bank of India (SBI), Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Citi, Barclays and Morgan Stanley.

DME has also received a letter of comfort from NHAI for the bond sale. The borrowers may hold up a meeting for the same.

The company is seeking to raise at least Rs 5,000 crore with 15 years of maturity. It has approached many domestic and institutional investors such as banks, mutual and pension funds and bond houses to show their project's strength.

As per the bond terms, the bond may have five to six years of a call option, an exit route for investors before the maturity date. The bond will be up for bidding on the National Stock Exchange's electronic trading platform. However, only qualified institutional borrowers can participate in the bidding process.

It is aiming to raise a Rs 4,000 crore loan from institutional centres, including India Infrastructure Finance Company, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and EPFO.

The company is exploring offshore fundraising. It is also in talks with foreign investors to extend a dollar-denominated loan under an external commercial borrowing (ECB) interface.

According to a source, the Rs 4,000 crore loan could be a combination of ECB and domestic institutions or only ECB.

DME is negotiating with many local banks to raise Rs 9,000 crore. Earlier, it had raised Rs 2,700 crore from Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank and Bank of Maharashtra in FY22, with a maturity period of 18 years. It is also negotiating with SBI, seeking a 6.85% rate of interest against 7%.

The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project is 1,380 km long, where SPV is to raise Rs 54,000 crore till the project completion date in October 2023.

In Delhi and Boroda, the project will be distributed in segments through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. The remaining part of the project till Mumbai will be implemented through a hybrid annuity model.

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