Highways InvIT to be open on stock exchange

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, stated that the Centre will approach capital markets next month to seek retail participation in highway projects. The minister stated that InvIT will be listed on the stock exchange, but with a caveat: it is an experimental method, which is why retail investment will be limited. InvITs are products similar to mutual funds in that they pool money from investors and invest in assets that will deliver cash flows over time. The central government has previously sought the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to let individual investors to invest in the InvIT of the state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). This is the first time a minister has specified a timetable for the exercise. Institutional investors, insurance firms, pension funds, and infrastructure investors participated in NHAI's first InvIT round. Also read: Telangana approves fund to upgrade city roadsNHAI develops 51-km Kamakhyanagar-Duburi stretch in Odisha