Adani Road Transport has emerged as the top bidder for the latest highway assets offered by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) model. The company has submitted a bid of Rs 16.92 billion for a group of road stretches bundled together for monetisation. This marks the 15th bundle of highways monetised through the ToT model, which allows the successful bidder or concessionaire to collect toll revenue for 20 years in exchange for an upfront payment.

If Adani's bid is accepted, it will become NHAI's second monetization deal in the current financial year. Last September, the agency completed the monetisation of road assets under ToT Bundle 16, generating Rs 66.61 billion. That bundle included two stretches on the Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor in Telangana, covering a total length of 251 kilometre.

Other contenders for the highways in ToT Bundle 15 included IRB Infrastructure, Epic Concesiones (backed by Edelweiss Alternatives), and Prakash Asphalting and Toll Highways (PATH). The 124 kilometers of highways in this bundle comprise a four-lane stretch from Trichy to Madurai and Tovrankurichi in Tamil Nadu.

In FY 2023-24, NHAI awarded four ToT bundles worth Rs 159.68 billion, surpassing its monetization target of Rs 100 billion for the fiscal year. This monetisation is part of NHAI’s alternate financing strategy, necessitated by its exclusion from the debt market since 2022-23. Improved financial management has enabled the agency to reduce its outstanding debt from Rs 3.48 trillion at the end of 2022 to Rs 3.35 trillion by the end of FY24. Additionally, NHAI repaid approximately Rs 560 billion in debt during the year, alongside regular debt servicing.

Under the National Monetisation Plan, NHAI’s Total Asset Monetization Program has exceeded Rs 1 trillion, comprising Rs 489.95 billion from ToT, Rs 259 billion from Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT), and Rs 420 billion from securitisation. Bids for highways in ToT Bundles 17, 18, and 19 remain open.

In the current financial year, NHAI aims to raise Rs 540 billion through the monetization of operational roads, a significant increase from Rs 402.27 billion achieved last year. Of this, Rs 80 billion is expected from project-based financing, while Rs 460 billion will come from ToT and the National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT).

NHAI has identified 33 highway stretches totalling 2,741 kilometers for monetization. Of these, 12 stretches have been allocated to NHIT, which is promoted by NHAI, with expected proceeds of Rs 150 to Rs 200 billion. The remaining 21 stretches will be monetised through the ToT model.