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India is preparing to accelerate its infrastructure financing strategy by monetising 28 national highway assets covering more than 1,800 kilometres during FY27. The government is targeting nearly Rs 35,000 crore through the exercise as it sharpens its focus on asset recycling to support fresh infrastructure development. According to a government official who spoke to ET, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already identified the highway stretches that will be part of the monetisation programme. Haryana has emerged with the largest share of shortlisted assets, while Uttar Pradesh follows closely behind.

The upcoming monetisation drive will use a mix of public and private infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) along with the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) mechanism. The approach is aimed at unlocking value from operational road assets while drawing long-term institutional capital into the sector.

"This year's monetisation will have two built-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, and seven engineering procurement and construction (EPC) projects," said a government official in the report, adding that preference is to monetise hybrid annuity model assets as capex risk is comparatively lower vis-a-vis other project types.

The renewed stress on monetisation comes shortly after the Centre permitted sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to directly participate in greenfield toll-road investments. The move is expected to widen investor participation and strengthen confidence in India’s road infrastructure pipeline.

Highway Monetisation Gains Momentum After FY26 Success

The road transport ministry recorded monetisation proceeds of Rs 29,000 crore during FY26, underlining the government’s growing reliance on infrastructure asset recycling as a financing tool.

Earlier this year, the ministry’s first public InvIT generated more than Rs 9,000 crore by monetising five highway stretches spread across four states, covering over 260 kilometres. The success of that transaction has encouraged policymakers to scale up similar initiatives in the coming years.

Officials are now planning to place another 1,500 kilometres of fully operational national highways under the public InvIT framework over the next three to five years. The objective is to continuously recycle mature assets and channel the proceeds into new highway construction projects across the country.

NMP 2.0 Sets Ambitious Targets For Highway Sector

The government’s updated National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) 2.0, released in February, has set an ambitious target for the highways sector. The plan estimates the total monetisation potential of Rs 4.42 lakh crore between FY26 and FY30.

For FY27 alone, highway asset monetisation is projected to generate around Rs 68,770 crore. One notable change from the earlier NMP framework is the inclusion of build-operate-transfer projects awarded during the current financial year, expanding the pool of assets eligible for monetisation.

The broader strategy reflects the government’s intention to use existing infrastructure assets more efficiently while continuing to invest aggressively in India’s expanding transport network.