Road rage on deal street: Changing landscape of highway construction biz

$11.3 billion worth of highways have changed hands since 2019, and road construction has moved out of the isolated universe of thekedars to embrace fund managers in fine suits

For the traditional contractor who started decades ago, road building has been a straightforward affair: Get the theka (Hindi for contract) and rake in the moolah.
 

“We get the theka from the corporation and we do the work. That’s it. We don’t understand this buying and selling business too well,” says a sub-contractor who does minor road works in Ghaziabad’s Sahibabad area.
 

The bigger players would be engaged in slightly more complex contracts, but follow the same straightforward strategy.
 

Today, the massive infrastructure deficit in India and need for significant fund injection has led to a maturing of the highway