National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT) plans to raise Rs 2,350 crore through bank loans and bonds to acquire three road assets from India’s state-owned National Highways Authority.

NHIT is a BSE-listed infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) with five operating assets. It is now proposing to acquire the Agra Bypass, the Borkhedi-Wadner-Kelapur, and the Shivpuri-Jhansi segment. It will sign a 20-year franchise agreement with NHAI.

Of the Rs 2,350 crore planned to be raised, Rs 850 crore will come from long-term bank loans and Rs 1,500 crore from non-convertible bonds. CARE Ratings has assigned two agencies an interim “AAA” rating with a stable outlook.
NHIT’s 20-year sanctioned debt stands at Rs 2,000 crore, of which Rs 1,480 crore has been raised as of March 2022. In addition, InvIT has raised Rs 6,011 crore.

While existing projects have an operational track record of 12-18 years, the new asset is also a mature toll road project with an operational track record of 5-13 years.

InvIT’s existing portfolio includes five road project assets – Palanpur-Abu Road, Abu Road-Swaroopganj, Chittorgarh-Kota, Kothakota-Kurnool and Belgaum-Kagal.

Portfolio projects are spread across different geographic locations in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. This significantly reduces InvIT’s business risk by reducing the potential impact of an economic slowdown or force majeure event in any given region.

CARE Ratings said five existing projects started charging on December 16, 2021, and reported that in fiscal 2022, the charging was Rs 139.42 crore and the average daily charge (ADTC) was Rs 1.32 crore, in line with expected levels.

In the first quarter that ended June 2022 (Q1FY23), NHIT reported toll revenue of Rs 142.48 crore compared to ADTC’s Rs 1.57 crore. The additional three assets are expected to be transferred under the InvIT in September 2022, and fees will be charged from October 2022.