Centre to raise Rs 2500 crore to fund three road projects through Infrastructure Investment Trusts

The government will approach the capital market this month to raise around Rs 2,500 crore to fund three road projects, a senior official said on October 3 and the funds will be raised through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are mutual fund-style instruments that pool money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over time.

The National Highway Authority of India's first infrastructure investment trust raised over Rs 5,000 crore last year.

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, previously stated that NHAI InvIT attracted two international pension funds, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, which together with diversified DIIs invested units worth more than Rs 5,000 crore in InvIT portfolio, which currently has 5 National Highways.

The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) plan announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in August last year includes road assets worth Rs 1.60 lakh crore that will be monetized over four years until FY25.