NHAI awards toll, operate and transfer projects of 273 km for Rs 9,384 cr

State-owned NHAI awarded Toll, Operate and Transfer (TOT) projects of a combined length of 273 km for Rs 9,384 crore to successful bidders, an official statement said on Monday.

The financial bids were opened on November 14, 2023, and with the approval of the concerned authorities, the letters of award were issued within a day to the successful bidders.

According to the statement, the TOT bundle 13 includes Kota Bypass and Stay Bridge on NH-76 in Rajasthan, as well as the Gwalior-Jhansi section of NH-75 in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh awarded to IRB Infrastructure Trust for Rs 1,683 crore.

TOT bundle 14, which consists of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway including the Delhi-Hapur section of NH-9 in the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, as well as Binjabahal to Teliebani section of NH-6 in the state of Odisha, has been awarded to Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte Ltd for Rs 7,701 crores, it added.

The concession period of TOT bundles is 20 years during which concessionaires would be required to maintain and operate the stretch.

In lieu of this, concessionaires will collect and retain user fee for these stretches in accordance with prescribed fee rates under NH Fee Rules, it added.

The statement said that the combined value of the four TOT bundles awarded in FY 2023-24 is around Rs 15,968 crore which is higher than the monetization target of Rs 10,000 crore for the current fiscal.

Earlier in October 2023, NHAI awarded TOT bundles 11 and 12 for a combined length of 400 km for Rs 6,584 crore. The two bundles (11 & 12) consisted of the Allahabad Bypass on NH19 in Uttar Pradesh and the Lalitpur Sagar -Lakhnadon section in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh respectively. The TOT model has been developed to encourage private participation in the Highway sector.

TOT has been instrumental in unlocking the value of road networks and has contributed towards the development of a world-class National Highway Network in the country.