Monetisation of highway assets is likely to get into an overdrive under the National Monetisation Pipeline-II project to be implemented between FY26 and FY30. The target for funds to be generated by leasing out operational and other highway networks in the next five years would be set at Rs 3.5 lakh crore, more than double the estimated mop-up in the first phase of NMP (FY21-FY25).
This would help the ministry of road transport and highways to cut the debt burden of the National Highways Authority of India, and still keep a steady pace of highway construction. Monetisation proceeds would be ploughed back to new projects, even while making renewed efforts to encourage private risk capital with tailor-made projects.
In March, eleven highway stretches are to be monetised through National Highways Infrastructure Trust (NHIT) for around Rs 18,000 crore and one round of monetisation through Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) is also expected to go through. In the monetisation process, TOT, Infrastructure Investment Trust and project-based financing have contributed almost equally.
This year the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already raised Rs 8293 crore through monetisation of two bundles of highways of 375 km length. The NMP-I had target to raise Rs 6 lakh crore via monetsiation of assets in various sectors and the NMP-II, announced in Budget FY26, aims to mobilise Rs 10 lakh crore.
Length of four lanes and four-lanes-plus national highways has gone up by more than 2.5 times in the last 10 years to 45,000 to 46,000 km from 18,000 km earlier. The government also has plans to increase the length of high-speed corridors to 50,000 km from 4500 km now.
After the pause on Bharatmala Pariyojana, which had a corridor-based approach to development of highways, the highways ministry has worked out a network-based planning document which has been named Vision Document.
