NEW DELHI: The road transport ministry has set a target of auctioning completed highway projects to raise approximately Rs 1 lakh crore by 2023-24 to meet the fund requirement for expanding the existing highways and building new stretches.
The government has asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to explore new avenues to raise finances for the ongoing highway programmes other than the budgetary allocation. Sources said NHAI is also likely to go for securitising its toll revenue to raise finance.
The annual toll revenue of NHAI is estimated around Rs 9,000 crore. “In some cases, we can even link the toll revenue to repayment of loan so that there is uninterrupted flow of pre-decided amount to lenders,” said an official.
