New NHAI InvIT for retail investors receives 5 NHs for ₹9,500 crore

NHAI has accepted a ₹9,500-crore offer from Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust to monetise five highway stretches spanning over 260 km across four states, expanding retail participation in road assets

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has accepted the offer of Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust (RIIT) — the latest highway InvIT open for retail investors — of ₹9,500 crore towards asset monetisation of five sections spanning over 260 km across four states, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said.

 

The monetised assets include the 80.52-km-long Gorhar–Barwa Adda section in Jharkhand, the 69.4-km-long Chilakaluripet–Vijayawada section in Andhra Pradesh, the 32.6-km-long Chennai Bypass, the 33-km-long Chennai–Tada section in Tamil Nadu, and the 44.6-km-long Nelamangala–Tumakuru section in Karnataka.

 

“Through this public InvIT, retail investors will not only gain the opportunity to earn stable and attractive returns from operational National Highway assets but will also develop a sense of ownership and pride in contributing to the growth of national infrastructure,” Santosh Kumar Yadav, chairman of the highway authority, said.

  The monetisation through the public InvIT is aligned with the Government of India’s National Monetisation Pipeline objectives aimed at unlocking value from operational infrastructure assets and enhancing private sector participation in infrastructure management, the ministry said.

 

“Over the next three to five years, NHAI plans to provide further assets of about 1,500 km to RIIT,” it added.

 

NHAI, through its existing InvIT — National Highways Infra Trust — has already raised over ₹43,000 crore so far. However, the trust currently allows participation only from institutional investors, and the government has been firming up plans to allow retail investors into units of national highways.

 

InvITs are one of the three primary modes of highway monetisation used by NHAI, under which a trust handles several road assets and investors can benefit from toll revenues on these roads by becoming unitholders.