 "road financing")
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Tuesday completed the third round of funding through its infrastructure investment trust, raising a record over Rs 16,000 crore for 889 kilometres of national highway.
The capital was raised by National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), the infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) of NHAI, as part of the Centre’s asset monetisation programme in 2023-24.
The letter of award for the largest InvIT round was given in February, and the transaction has been completed before the end of the financial year.
In the third round of monetisation, NHIT raised unit capital of around Rs 7,272 crore from marquee domestic and international investors and debt of around Rs 9,000 crore from Indian lenders, to fund the acquisition of national highway stretches, at a base concession fee of around Rs 15,625 crore, and additional concessional fees of Rs 75 crore.
Following its investment, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board, an existing unitholder, will continue to hold 25 per cent of the units in NHIT. CPP Investments’ total investment in NHIT will increase to INR 36.8 billion (C$614 million). The Canadian fund invested Rs 1820 crore in the latest fundraise.
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James Bryce, Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure, CPP Investments said: “We are confident that this investment will continue to deliver high-quality infrastructure across India while generating strong risk- adjusted returns for the CPP Fund.”
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“The units were subscribed by investors through a book build process at a cut-off price of Rs 124.14 per unit, at a premium over the current NAV of Rs 122.86 per unit,” NHAI said in a press release.
The monetised sections in the latest round include Chichira-Kharagpur, Orai-Bara, Rewa-Katni-Jabalpur-Lakhnadon, Kachugaon to Rakhaldubi Bus Junction and Rakhaldubi Bus Junction to Kaljhar, Kaljhar to Patacharkuchi, Lakhnadon to Mahagaon, Mahagaon to Khawasa, Hubli to Haveri, Davangere to Haveri, and Davangere to Chitradurga.
“With the completion of the third round of monetisation, the total realised value of all three rounds of InvIT stands at Rs 26,125 crore, and holds a diversified portfolio of fifteen operating toll roads with an aggregate length of about 1,525 km spread across the nine states of Assam, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, with concession periods ranging between 20 to 30 years,” NHAI said.
Since the start of the national monetisation pipeline in 2021, the ministry of road transport and highways has brought private investment worth Rs 42,334 crore through TOT (toll operate transfer) and raised debt worth Rs 42,000 crore through securitisation of toll revenues of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway through a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
CPP Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, which are existing unitholders and subscribed to the maximum limit of 25 per cent each.
Existing domestic investors of the trust include pension/provident funds such as IOCL Employees PF, L&T Staff PF, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Karamchari Pension Fund, SBI Pension etc., along with insurance companies like Tata AIG, SBI Life, HDFC Life, mutual funds (SBI, Nippon India), banks and few others.
