IRB Infrastructure Trust, a private infrastructure investment trust backed by IRB Infrastructure Developers, has emerged as the preferred bidder for the National Highways Authority of India’s Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT)-18 concession in Odisha. Under the 20-year, revenue-linked concession, the trust will pay an upfront amount of Rs 30.87 billion to NHAI after achieving financial closure to secure tolling rights. The InvIT will be responsible for toll collection, operations, maintenance and eventual transfer of the 74.5 km Chandikhole–Bhadrak section of National Highway-16, comprising around 450 lane km. With this project, the IRB Group has expanded its presence to its 13th Indian state. IRB is the country’s largest integrated private toll roads and highways infrastructure developer, with an aggregate asset base of about Rs 940 billion across the parent company and its two InvIT platforms. Including the TOT-18 project, IRB now holds roughly a 16 per cent share in India’s Golden Quadrilateral highway network and about a 12 per cent share in the North–South connectivity corridor. Following the latest addition, IRB’s portfolio will comprise 28 highway projects, including 18 build-operate-transfer projects, six TOT assets and four hybrid annuity model projects. Last month, the company also received a letter of award from NHAI for the TOT-17 bundle, valued at Rs 92.7 billion. Commenting on the expansion, Virendra Mhaiskar, Chairperson and Managing Director of IRB Infrastructure Developers, said the win reinforces the group’s leadership in the TOT segment. He noted that IRB has committed upfront payments of approximately Rs 340 billion to the government across six TOT assets, taking the group’s aggregate asset base to around Rs 940 billion. The company currently manages 11 highway assets spanning 8,763 lane km, with an enterprise value of about Rs 620 billion. The weighted average life of these assets exceeds 20 years, providing long-term visibility on cash flows.