The National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) established by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2020, has successfully completed its fourth round of fundraising, marking the largest monetisation transaction in India's road sector.

The enterprise value of this round stands at approximately Rs 1.83 trillion ($22 billion), pushing the total realised value across four rounds to over Rs 4.6 trillion ($55 billion).

Strong Investor Participation and Capital Allocation NHIT raised:

Rs 834 billion ($1 billion) in unit capital from domestic and international investors

Rs 1 trillion ($1.2 billion) in debt from domestic lenders

These funds will be used to acquire key national highway stretches, including:

Anakapalle-Narsannapeta, Gundugolanu-Kovvuru, Chittoor-Mallavaram (Andhra Pradesh)

Bareilly-Sitapur, Muzaffarnagar-Haridwar (Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand)

Gandhidham-Mundra (Gujarat)

Raipur-Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh)

The total concession value of these projects is Rs 1.77 trillion ($2.1 billion), including a Rs 9.7 billion ($116 million) premium.

Investors included:

Domestic pension and provident funds (EPFO, L&T PF, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Karamchari PF)

Major insurance companies, banks, financial institutions, and mutual funds

Foreign investors (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board)

A landmark feature of this round was the Rs 203 billion ($243 million) investment by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), marking its first-ever InvIT investment. NHAI also subscribed to its 15% share at the same price.

Expanding NHIT’s Highway Portfolio With this successful fundraising, NHIT now manages a diverse portfolio of 26 operational toll roads covering 2,345 km across 12 states. The concession periods for these highways range between 20 to 30 years, ensuring long-term revenue generation.

Conclusion This milestone reinforces India's commitment to infrastructure growth by enabling private sector participation in road development. The successful NHIT fundraising round not only boosts highway expansion but also signals continued investment potential in India's transport sector.