NHAI resumes infrastructure investment company project with roadshows

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started re-engagement with investors for its infrastructure investment company (InvIT), which has been delayed by over a year. The second wave of the pandemic led to a decline of 15-20 per cent in toll revenue in May, which picked up after the lockdown restrictions were eased in June. “We got to apprise domestic and international investors about the impact of lockdown on the traffic, therefore we are re-engaging with them via virtual roadshows,” a senior official within the know told Business Standard.

He said the InvIT should be ready to see the sunshine of the day soon. Approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is in situ to launch its maiden InvIT to boost Rs 5,100 crore. The NHAI is getting to offer 19 projects, worth Rs 35,000 crore, under the InvIT model, which may be a platform to monetise roads over subsequent three-five years. The initial bundle of road projects selected for the InvIT provides better prospects because they’re a part of national corridors. The trust is being found out as a personal listed InvIT to draw in large institutional investors. It’s an investment company that works sort of an open-end fund and is regulated by Sebi.

Under this model, the assets are placed in an InvIT during which investors put in money and therefore the income generated from such assets is paid as dividend. While the NHAI INvIT would also see a suggestion purchasable (OFS), the authority didn’t specify the quantity within the draft papers with Sebi.

The units are proposed to be listed on the National stock market and therefore the BSE. The merchant bankers to the difficulty are ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and SBI Capital Markets. The NHAI’s InvIT became a casualty of the Covid-19 crisis after a nationwide lockdown was imposed on Annunciation , 2020. It had been earlier set to launch its first InvIT in May 2020.