NHAI to garner ₹35,000–40,000 crore in FY26 from road assets monetisation via ToT, InvIT, says ICRA

Ratings agency ICRA projects road monetisation at ₹35,000–40,000 crore in the financial year 2025-26 if the assets identified by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are monetised in a timely manner.

This would mark a healthy improvement from the ₹24,399 crore monetised in FY25, the ratings agency said, adding that this would exceed the budgeted monetisation target of ₹30,000 crore for FY26.

These estimates are based on the median valuation multiple of 0.62 times seen across the 10 awarded toll-operate-transfer (TOT) bundles over the last three years, according to ICRA.

The NHAI has identified a robust pipeline of projects earmarked for monetisation, which includes the estimated completion of five TOT bundles with bids already initiated. Moreover, it has earmarked the transfer of project stretches to the InvIT established by the NHAI.

The NHAI has predominantly utilised two asset monetisation mechanisms, namely TOT and InvIT since FY19, said Vinay Kumar G, Sector Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA. The authority has successfully raised ₹92,633 crore through these channels up to FY25, Kumar added. “The TOT method generated 53% of NHAI’s total monetisation during FY2019-FY2025. InvIT, introduced in FY2022, has seen its share expand over the past two years. Since FY2023, NHAI has begun publishing annual lists of assets designated for monetisation. Between FY2023 and FY2025, approximately 7,000 km were announced for monetisation, of which about 2,000 km have been completed to date, and an additional 1,170 km have been offered for sale through five TOT bundles. Moreover, NHAI is yet to monetise nearly 3,750 km that were made available for sale during this period,” Kumar added.

ICRA’s analysis suggests that the valuation multiple has varied between 0.46 and 0.93 times across the 10 awarded TOT bundles over the last three years, with the median multiple being 0.62 times. The average concession period has been 20 years, and the toll collection track record for the underlying assets has varied within 4-15 years (median of 10 years).

ICRA said that based on this multiple, monetisation of existing identified assets, along with TOT bundles and assets identified in FY2026, could potentially garner monetisation proceeds of ₹35,000-40,000 crore in FY2026, taking its total monetisation since inception to around ₹1.3 lakh crore.

Commenting on the lower monetisation realisation for FY25, Kumar stated: "The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) set a target of approximately ₹53,366 crore with a total monetisable length of 8,894 km for FY2025, whereas the FY2025 Budget projected a lower figure of ₹30,000 crore. Of this amount, NHAI generated ₹6,661 crore through the monetisation of the TOT bundle 16 (252 km), and ₹17,738 crore via the fourth round of asset transfer to the NHAI InvIT (821 km), amounting to ₹24,399 crore in proceeds and a cumulative length of 1,073 km during FY2025. The deferment of awards under TOT bundles 15, 17, 18, and 19 resulted in slippages against ICRA’s prior estimate of ₹37,000–40,000 crore for FY2025."

In March 2025, National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) set up by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in 2020 to support the government’s monetisation programme, concluded its fourth round of fundraising at an enterprise value of about ₹18,380 crore. The total realised value across the four rounds stands at over ₹46,000 crore.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) surpassed the highway construction target for 2024-25 and built 5,614 kilometres of national highways during the previous fiscal.