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Masterplan to raise Rs 35,000 crore from National Highway

The government is going to play a big gamble to give new pace to the speed with which the road network is being laid in the country. To ensure that there is no shortage of capital for the development of infrastructure, the government is preparing to raise about Rs 35,000 crore through 28 major National Highway Assets in the financial year 2026-27 (FY27). This is not a simple decision, rather it is part of a solid strategy to create a big fund for the development of the country by leasing out government assets, which is called 'asset monetization' in the market language.

What is this new blueprint of Rs 35 thousand crores

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has prepared the complete blueprint of this mega plan. Capital will be raised by handing over these 28 highway stretches, approximately 1,800 kilometers long, to private hands. The government will hand over the operation of its constructed and operational roads to private companies or investors for a fixed period. In return, the government will get a huge lump sum amount and this money will be used to build new roads. This work of monetization will be carried out through Public-Private Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) or Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) model. Seven EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) projects have been included in this entire process.

Highways of Haryana and UP will become the biggest source of earning.

In this new list of NHAI, maximum properties have been selected from the state of Haryana. Immediately after this comes Uttar Pradesh. The major highways of these states are considered to be a very profitable deal for investors. To reduce investment risk, assets with Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) are being given first priority. This will increase the confidence of foreign and domestic institutional investors. Interestingly, the government has recently allowed pension funds along with sovereign wealth funds to invest directly in new toll-road projects (greenfield). This step will play an important role in attracting huge investment in the highway sector.

NMP 2.0 will change the picture of country's infrastructure

In February this year, the government had announced 'National Monetization Pipeline' (NMP 2.0), whose vision is quite big. A huge target has been set to raise Rs 4.42 lakh crore from the road sector alone in the total five years from financial year 2026 to 2030. Monetization is expected to yield Rs 68,770 crore in FY 2027 itself. Talking about the last financial year (2025-26), the Road Transport Ministry had deposited Rs 29,000 crore in the government treasury through this process. Of this, Rs 9,000 crore came only through public InvIT from five 260 km long roads in four states. The major change from the first phase of NMP is that now 'Build-Operate-Transfer' (BOT) projects bid in the current financial year will also be made a part of monetization.

What impact will this have on the lives of common citizens?

If seen from the perspective of a common citizen, this entire exercise has many meanings. When the government takes out money from old roads and invests it in new projects, connectivity improves across the country. This reduces your travel time and reduces the cost of freight transportation, which has a direct impact on reducing inflation. Apart from this, for common people who invest in the stock market, InvIT opens up a great option to invest money directly in government highway infrastructure and get safe returns. In the coming three to five years, 1,500 kilometers of additional operational roads will be made a part of this model. This means that the highways of the country are not just for running vehicles but are also going to become a strong source of income for the general public.

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