NHAI is selling two toll-road bundles, but investors are wary of making big-ticket payments upfront

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Vehicles pass through the Delhi-Noida-Delhi flyover, which was made toll-free in 2017.

Synopsis
Short of funds for the ambitious Bharatmala project, the NHAI is inviting bids for the tolling rights of 16 road assets. But in a market overcrowded with assets on sale and subdued road-traffic growth, institutional investors are unlikely to share the road authority’s exuberance and may not want to make a large-ticket payment upfront.

Highway-construction company IRB Infrastructure reported toll revenues of INR918.2 crore at the end of FY19, which came from a single project — the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. While the amount itself is hefty, the project becomes an even more impressive investment for the company, considering a year’s toll collection on a 94.5km, six lane-expressway was enough to recover the upfront payment made 15 years ago. In 2004, IRB Infrastructure had paid