NHAI Exceeds Highway Construction Target by 15%, Builds Over 5,300 km in FY26

Working relentlessly towards the development of national highway infrastructure in the country, the capital expenditure by the NHAI in FY26 for the development of NH infrastructure was at Rs 2,44,362 crore.

"The capital expenditure for the financial year is about 2.5 per cent higher than the Government Budgetary Support of Rs 2,38,384 crore for the year. The differential amount of Rs 5,978 crore has been met through NHAI's own resources," the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said.

Meanwhile, the NHAI has realised Rs 28,307 crore through a combination of Public InvIT, Private InvIT, and Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) model, including TOT Bundles 17 and 18 for FY 2025-26.

With bids received for TOT Bundle-19, which are under technical evaluation, the NHAI is well poised to achieve the government's budgeted target of Rs 30,000 crore for the current fiscal. The NHAI has successfully monetised over 310 km of National Highways under InvIT Round-5 as part of its Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) programme.

The InvIT-5 has been awarded to NHIT Western Projects Private Ltd for a concession fee of Rs 6,366.98 crore for a period of 20 years.

The acquisition of these assets was financed through a combination of equity and debt. The public issue was oversubscribed nearly 14 times, reflecting strong investor confidence in India's infrastructure sector, the government's asset monetisation programme, and the long-term growth prospects of national highway assets.

The NHAI said it is committed to building world-class national highway infrastructure across the country that will contribute not only to the growth of the road sector but will also play a critical role in nation-building and contribute towards advancing the growth of the Indian economy.

- IANS