No.PR-36
July 10, 2019
New Delhi
NHAI commences process for raising Rs.75,000 crore through market borrowings for this year, says its Chair
Mr Nagendra Nath Sinha ,Chair, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), on Wednesday,10th July 2019 indicated that the Authority is working towards raise Rs.75,000 crore through market borrowing channels this year to support the projects of roads and highways.
Addressing the National Roads & Highways Summit 2019, at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) here today, Mr Sinha, without mentioning a comprehensive roll out plan for the market borrowing for NHAI, gave away an indicative plans for such borrowings which is planned to happen through multiple channels , which will include LIC, Debt Funds, pension funds and sovereign funds. He also emphasised on the intensive work which is underway for achieving the set targets for building roads and highways. He also mentioned that the Authority will also look at sourcing funds from Infrastructure Investment Trusts, national Investment and Infrastructure Fund and even Special Purpose Vehicle and the Authority is also open to funds generated by the means of monetizing its assets.
He also announced that NHAI would commence the awarding of projects for roads and national highways to intended stakeholders only on the completion of the land acquisition process. He explained this by citing the example of the Sate of Meghalaya, where some of the critical roads and highways projects have not been awarded on account of acquisition proper land.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr Anil Srivastava, Principal Consultant & Mission Director, National Mission on Transformative Mobility, emphasized on the need of application of technologies in the infrastructure sector with an equal need to undertake policy measures which are necessary to ensure road safety , to avoid accidents and fatalities. He also re-iterated the need of upgrading the infrastructure by stating that currently only 2% of roads are within the domain of NHAI and the share ought to go up to lay out better infrastructure to enable India reach the target of making it a $5 trillion economy in next five years. He also pointed out that with 2% of roads share with NHAI, it bears the burden of close to 40% of national traffic.
Dr D K Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHDCCI, in his welcome remarks, appreciated the Government’s efforts towards the infrastructure sector, particularly roads and highways. He added that it is crucial that the governments initiatives need to be backed by proper financing for this sector ,with reduced rates of funds.
Mr Ashish Wig ,Chair, Roads, Ports & Other Infrastructure Committee, PHDCCI in his remarks, put forth a request for a need of a Regulatory Authority for the roads and highways sector, on the lines of RERA. He also reiterated the need of smooth flow of funds for such projects. The Summit was presided over by Principal Director, PHDCCI, Dr Ranjeet Mehta.
Ends.
Koteshwar Prasad Dobhal
Consultant (PR)