The National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) spent a record ₹2,07,000 crore in construction of national highways in 2023-24, the highest ever capital expenditure so far, and a jump of 20% compared to ₹1,73,000 crore spent in 2022-23 and ₹1,72,000 crore in 2021-22.
According to a government official, the construction of highways in the just concluded financial year also surpassed previous records and stood at 6,644 km as against 5,544 km constructed in the preceding financial year, a growth of 20%.The total length of highways built in the last financial year was 53% higher when compared to 4,331 km built in 2021-22. NHAI had targeted 6,544 km of construction for 2023-24.
During FY 2023-24, NHAI’s monetisation receipts stood at ₹40,314 crore, which is the highest in any financial year, and is 70% more than ₹23,650.77 crore in 2022-23. This includes four toll-operate-transfer (TOT) bundles worth ₹15,968 crore, ₹15,700 crore raised through Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and ₹8,646 crore through toll securitisation in the preceding financial year.
Under InvIT, NHAI monetized 10 stretches with an aggregate length of about 890 km, spread across Assam, Karnataka, MP, UP and West Bengal, in the third round. Earlier, two rounds of InvIT with aggregate length of about 635 km worth ₹10,200 crore were monetized.
During FY 2024, NHAI awarded TOT Bundles 11, 12, 13 and 14 for ₹15,968 crore, which is higher than its monetization target of ₹10,000 crore for the last fiscal year. Further, NHAI monetised Delhi-Mumbai Expressway through project based securitisation in 2023-24 and garnered ₹4,600 crore, over and above ₹4000 crore through toll securitisation. Its total asset monetization receipts since 2018 surpassed ₹1 lakh crore till date.
