NHAI is planning to award projects worth around Rs 2.25 lakh crore in the current fiscal. The authority awarded 141 projects (4,788 km) worth Rs 1.71 lakh crore in 2020-21.
The share of engineering procurement and construction (EPC) in the awards last fiscal was 50% followed by hybrid annuity model (HAM) at 49%. Only two projects were awarded through the build, operate and transfer (BOT) model.
NHAI sources said project awards in the current fiscal could be close to 5,000 km and HAM is expected to have the largest share of awards followed by EPC. BOT is likely to gain momentum to constitute between 5-10% of the award basket. Project awards through the BOT route drew a blank in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
“Funds are not a constraint for project awards. We will be exceeding our last year’s achievement in the current fiscal,” NHAI chairman Dr SS Sandhu told.
For the current fiscal, NHAI has been allocated Rs 57,350 crore in the Budget for 2021-22, up from Rs 49,050 crore (RE) in 2020-21. NHAI has also been permitted to borrow Rs 65,000 crore in 2021-22, same as in 2020-21.
As per the Budget documents, NHAI could raise Rs 10,000 crore through monetisation of operational highway projects. NHAI has already submitted required documents with the market regulator Sebi to raise at least Rs 5,100 crore through its first InvIT. In addition, a couple of tranches of toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model would also be tried at. Fund raising through securitisation of toll would also be done.
The proceed from the asset monetisation programme are used to repay NHAI’s debt, which is about Rs 3 lakh crore, at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal, and to develop highways.
NHAI was given the task of executing the Bhartmala Pariyojona project in October 2017 under which the government plans to develop 34,800 km highway project (including 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches) with an estimated outlay of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. Out of this, as on March-end, 2021, it has awarded 14,679 km of stretches worth over Rs 4 lakh crore.
