NHAI puts 300-km of road assets under auction

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is set to monetise road assets by putting a 300-km stretch to be auctioned under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model.The roads under ToT 13 and 14 bundles include 28-km long Kota Bypass (NH-76) and 81-km long Gwalior-Jhansi (NH-75) under ToT 13; as well as the 60-km long Delhi-Meerut expressway (NH-334 DME), 51-km long Delhi-Hapur section (NH-24 and part of DME) and 79-km long Binjabahal-Teleibani road (NH-6). The estimated value is in the range of Rs 6000-7000 crore. The bids for these stretches are expected by September, 2023.While NHAI is currently evaluating the bids for ToT 11 & 12 bundles, bids for the 361-km long Lalitpur-Lakhnadon stretch of NH-26 in Madhya Pradesh and 82-km long Allahabad Bypass were submitted in June, 2023.Out of the six-lakh crore National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) of FY2022-25, the monetisation of road assets Rs 60 lakh crore has been estimated. In particular, NHAI is mandated to raise Rs 43,979 crore from asset monetisation during FY24.Canadian fund CDPQ, KKR, Cube Highways and IRB Infrastructure Developers have evinced interest in acquiring 361-km long highway assets under ToT 12 auction by NHAI. The NHAI has awarded six TOT bundles, i.e., TOT-1, 3, 5A1, 5A2, 7 and 9, till date.