The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) could rake in a massive Rs 35,000-40,000 crore in FY26 by monetising its road assets on time, according to a fresh report from ratings agency ICRA. This projection beats the Rs 24,399 crore the authority pulled in during FY25 and even tops the government’s Rs 30,000 crore target for next year.
Experts base this estimate on a median valuation multiple of 0.62 times from the last 10 toll-operate-transfer (TOT) bundles awarded over the past three years. “NHAI has relied mainly on TOT and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT) since FY19 to monetise assets,” says Vinay Kumar G, Sector Head at ICRA’s Corporate Ratings. “They’ve already raised Rs 92,633 crore through these methods up to FY25.”
TOT has driven 53% of NHAI’s total monetisation from FY19 to FY25, while InvIT—launched in FY22—has gained steam in recent years. Since FY23, NHAI started releasing yearly lists of roads up for monetisation. From FY23 to FY25, they announced about 7,000 km for sale. So far, they’ve completed 2,000 km, offered another 1,170 km via five TOT bundles, and still have nearly 3,750 km left to monetise.
Looking ahead, NHAI boasts a strong pipeline. This includes five TOT bundles where bids are already underway, plus plans to shift road stretches to its InvIT. ICRA notes that valuation multiples for TOT bundles ranged from 0.46 to 0.93 times over three years, with an average 20-year concession period. The roads involved have 4-15 years of toll collection history, averaging 10 years.
If everything goes smoothly, monetising these assets—plus new ones lined up for FY26—could push NHAI’s total collections since starting to around Rs 1.3 lakh crore. For context, the National Monetisation Pipeline aimed for Rs 53,366 crore from 8,894 km in FY25, but the budget set a more modest Rs 30,000 crore goal.
This boost in road asset monetisation could supercharge India’s infrastructure push, making highways more efficient and funding fresh projects.
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