NHAI’s borrowing increased 4-fold in 5 years
NEW DELHI: The total borrowings of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has increased four-fold in the past five years, the highways ministry told Rajya Sabha on Monday. Till this March end, the cumulative borrowing stood at approximately Rs 3.1 lakh crore compared to Rs 74,742 crore in March 2017.
In a written reply to a question from BJP lawmaker Sushil Kumat Modi, Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari said the NHAI has availed external borrowing to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore and only in 2020-21, the highways authority paid Rs 18,840 crore as interest.
On the mechanism being adopted for servicing the debt, the minister said, “The NHAI creates valuable road assets which are financially viable. Since 2017, NHAI has constructed a total 17,042 km of public funded roads, with an expenditure of about Rs 4.08 lakh crore.
