Delhi-Mumbai SPV may get to monetise toll plazas of National Highway-48

May borrow Rs 9,000 cr this year even as it has offers of Rs 29,000 cr

The expressway is expected to be completed by March 2024

Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Development, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), may get toll plazas of the existing highway for monetisation.

It is learnt that five toll plazas on national highway-48 (NH-48) will be transferred to the SPV to provide a cushion to the new expressway. The proposal means that those plazas would be a steady revenue stream for the SPV. NH-48 starts in Delhi and terminates in Chennai. It passes through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The SPV is looking to raise Rs 50,000 crore over four years for financing, construction and operation of the greenfield highway between Delhi and Mumbai.

This year, the SPV may borrow Rs 9,000 crore while it already has offers worth Rs 29,000 crore. The arm was created in August 2020 to finance, construct and operate the Delhi-Mumbai expressway.

By floating an SPV specific to a corridor, NHAI aims at diversifying its resource base and developing a sustainable and self-liquidating approach to raise finances. 

It is yet to finalise whether it would raise funds via the SPV route for other projects as well. It will take a call after the financial closure of this contract, expected by March 31, 2021.

Spanning 1,275 km, the new Delhi-Mumbai expressway will be eight lane with provision to expand to 12 lanes. With a design speed of 120 km/hour, it will be India’s longest greenfield expressway, NHAI claimed.

The corridor will be completely access-controlled with closed tolling. 

The new alignment for the Delhi-Mumbai express highway passes through Gurugram in Haryana, Jaipur and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and Vadodra in Gujarat.

A network of 75-wayside amenities is also planned on either side of the expressways at an interval of 50 km. The project has a capital cost of Rs 82,514 crore, which includes land acquisition worth Rs 20,928 crore. 

The cost has been reduced to Rs 80 lakh per hectare from Rs 7 crore per hectare. The reason behind reduction in land acquisition cost is the lower land rates in the hinterland.

Considering the significance of the project, the authority has decided to invest the full equity and proceed with the development.

The SPV will raise debt on its balance sheet, while NHAI retains the operational control during construction, operation and maintenance. The expressway is expected to be completed by  March 2024.

The Bharatmala programme envisages construction of 20,000 km of roads at an estimated investment of Rs 7 trillion. In the first phase, to be undertaken over three-five years, the project would cost Rs 5.5 trillion. It would be funded through various sources, including Rs 2.09 trillion from the market, Rs 1.06 trillion through private investment and Rs 2.19 trillion from the central road fund or toll collection.