NHAI resumes infrastructure investment trust project with roadshows

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started re-engagement with investors for its infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), which has been delayed by over a year.

The second wave of the pandemic led to a decline of 15-20 per cent in toll revenue in May, which picked up after the lockdown restrictions were eased in June. “We need to apprise domestic and international investors about the impact of lockdown on the traffic, therefore we are re-engaging with them via virtual roadshows,” a senior official in the know told Business Standard.

He said the InvIT should be able to see the light of the day soon. Approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is in place to launch its maiden InvIT to raise Rs 5,100 crore.

The NHAI is planning to offer 19 projects, worth Rs 35,000 crore, under the InvIT model, which is a platform to monetise roads over the next three-five years. The initial bundle of road projects selected for the InvIT provides better prospects because they are part of national corridors.

The trust is being set up as a private listed InvIT to attract large institutional investors. It is an investment trust that works like a mutual fund and is regulated by Sebi.

Under this model, the assets are placed in an InvIT in which investors put in money and the income generated from such assets is paid as dividend.

While the NHAI INvIT would also see an offer for sale (OFS), the authority did not specify the amount in the draft papers with Sebi. The units are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange and the BSE. 

The merchant bankers to the issue are ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and SBI Capital Markets.

The NHAI’s InvIT became a casualty of the Covid-19 crisis after a nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25, 2020. It was earlier set to launch its first InvIT in May 2020.