The National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) established by NHAI in 2020 to support India’s asset monetization initiative, has successfully completed its fourth round of fundraising. This round, valued at approximately ₹18,380 crore in enterprise value, marks the largest monetization transaction in India’s road sector history. With this, the total funds raised across four rounds now exceed ₹46,000 crore.
In this latest round, NHIT secured around ₹8,340 crore in unit capital from prominent domestic and international investors, along with ₹10,040 crore in debt from Indian lenders. These funds will be utilized to acquire key National Highway stretches, including Anakapalle – Narsannapeta, Gundugolanu – Kovvuru, and Chittoor – Mallavaram in Andhra Pradesh; Bareilly – Sitapur and Muzaffarnagar – Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand; Gandhidham – Mundra in Gujarat; and Raipur – Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. The total concession value for these stretches is ₹17,738 crore, including a ₹97 crore premium. Investors subscribed to NHIT units through a book-building process at a cut-off price of ₹133.50 per unit, reflecting a premium over the December 31, 2024, NAV of ₹131.94 per unit.
The issue witnessed strong participation from both existing and new investors. Major domestic participants included pension and provident funds like EPFO, L&T PF, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Karamchari PF, and Indian Oil Corporation PF; insurance firms such as Axis Max Life Insurance; financial institutions including NaBFID, Axis Bank, and IndusInd Bank; as well as mutual and investment funds like Nippon India, Baroda BNP Paribas, Nuvama, and White Oak Capital. Additionally, NHIT’s foreign investors, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, subscribed to the maximum limit in the book-building process.
A notable highlight of this round was the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) making its first-ever investment in an InvIT with a subscription of ₹2,035 crore. NHAI also participated, acquiring approximately 15% of the units at the same price.
Following this latest round, NHIT now holds a well-diversified portfolio of 26 operational toll roads, covering 2,345 km across 12 states, with concession periods ranging from 20 to 30 years.