 "SBI's exposure to road sector at Rs 90,000 crore, says Dinesh Khara")
SBI's exposure to the road sector is close to Rs 90,000 crore, which is 37 per cent of the total banking exposure to the segment, its Chairman Dinesh Khara said on Friday.
Speaking at a national conference on investment opportunities in highways, transport and logistics, he said State Bank of India (SBI) is a trusted partner in the growth of the roadway sector in the country.
"For all purposes, SBI's exposure to the road sector at Rs 90,000 crore is almost 37 per cent of the total banking exposure to this particular sector," Khara said.
The lender has granted credit worth Rs 35,000 crore as of June 30, 2021 to support the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for execution of multiple road infrastructure projects.
It has granted credit worth Rs 5,000 crore to the SPV (special purpose vehicle) for Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, and has recently extended credit of Rs 8,000 crore to the initiative, he said.
The bank is the largest lender to the recently launched National Highways Infra Trust, contributing 50 per cent of the overall borrowing to the infrastructure investment trust (InVIT), Khara said.
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Welcoming the asset monetisation of national highways generating toll revenues both through primary and secondary medium, he said the step will attract private investment in the road sector.
Khara said the government's ambitious programme to generate Rs 6 trillion over four years under the National Monetisation Plan (NMP) includes an indicative value of core assets of the road sector of almost Rs 2 trillion, which contributes the highest share of 27 per cent of the NMP.
"We, at SBI, have already extended support to investors in participating in the asset monetisation initiatives and have extended the credit facilities to some of the leading investors. We will be more than happy to explore such initiatives," he added.
The preferred mode of monetisation programmes will be through build operate transfer (BOT) and InvITs and the bank has already taken headstart by subscribing to NHAI's InVIT to the tune of around Rs 1,000 crore, Khara said.