Union Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari has assured investors that the National Highways Authority of India has enough funds to increase the pace of road building.
Speaking at the listing ceremony of the National Highways Infra Trust's non-convertible debentures, he referred to the NHAI as gold and said that there is no shortfall of funds for infrastructure development in India.
Gadkari's statement comes when the pace of road construction has fallen to nearly 17 km a day in India, when the government is aiming to build 40 km of roadways a day.
The minister also said that the government will soon come out with investment opportunities for retail investors in road infrastructure projects, where investors will also be allowed to collect returns on a monthly basis.
NHAI Chairman Alka Upadhyaya also said that the NHAI has gained confidence after the first round of asset monetisation of roads and is optimistic about the second round of asset monetisation from the road segment.
She added that there are some concerns around the operations and maintenance of roads in India that need to be addressed.
The minister added that 70 percent of the construction of the Delhi-Mumbai highway has been completed.
The National Highway Infra Trust has issued and listed Non-Convertible Debentures or NCDs worth Rs 1,500 crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange, with a long-dated maturity of 25 years.
The NHIT has raised Rs 5,021 crore as per the information available from the stock exchange on October 18, which means that its NCD issue has oversubscribed 6.69 times.
The NCDs were offered in four equal categories to institutional investors, non-institutional investors, high-net worth individuals, and retail investors, and all four categories have oversubscribed, the NHIT's Managing Director and Chief Executive Suresh Goyal said.
The highest oversubscription came from the corporate category, that's about 11 times, followed by institutional investors at about 10 times, then retail, and lastly high-networth individuals, Goyal said.
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