NHAI plans to raise Rs 65,000 crore in FY22
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is looking to raise around Rs 65,000 crore in the next fiscal year, and the finance ministry is likely to include it in the upcoming budget.
The authority will bank on infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) and toll-operate-transfer among other models for raising the money,
The authority has a target to raise Rs 65,000 crore in the ongoing fiscal year as well. It had raised around Rs 45,000 crore till the end of December.
NHAI's debt at the end of FY20 was Rs 2.49 lakh crore, and it will cross the Rs 3 lakh crore mark if it meets its borrowing target for the ongoing fiscal year.
The total debt of the highways building authority has risen over ten times since the BJP government took charge in fiscal 2014-15 when it stood at Rs 24,188 crore.
The outstanding debt increased to Rs 44,567 crore in FY16, Rs 77,742 crore in FY17, Rs 1,21,931 crore in FY18 and Rs 1,78,867 crore in Fy19.
The borrowings are expected to surpass Rs 3.5 lakh crore by FY2023 to fund the Bharatmala Pariyojana program, rating firm ICRA said in a recent assessment on the authority's performance.
“ICRA, in its earlier observation on this subject, has already highlighted the importance of speeding up the TOT awards and other fundraising initiatives (viz. InvITs) to meet the large funding requirements of the ambitious program,†the assessment said.
While concerns have been raised by market watchers on NHAI's mounting debt, officials have maintained that debt-servicing is not an issue.
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01-2026
