CCEA allows NHAI to monetise publicly-funded road projects
04/08/2016 08:46
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has authorized National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to monetize public funded national highway projects which are operational and are generating toll revenues for at least two years after the commercial operations Date (COD) through the toll operate transfer (TOT) Model. The monetization will be subject to approval of the competent authority in ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) or NHAI on a case to case basis, according to a Cabinet statement. Monetization of public funded NH roads is expected to create a framework for attracting long term institutional investment on the strength of future toll receivables. Around 75 operational NH projects completed under public funding have been preliminarily identified for potential monetization using the TOT Model. This model would provide an efficient operation and maintenance (O&M) framework requiring reduced involvement of NHAI in projects post construction completion. Further, the corpus generated from proceeds of such project monetization could be utilized by the Government to meet its fund requirements regarding future development and O&M of highways in the country. This could address development of highways in unviable geographies. The model would facilitate efficient toll realization through private sector. This approval would ensure better O&M of public funded NH stretches resulting in enhanced quality of service for highway users across the country. Further, the fund generated from such monetization shall be utilized for development of highways in the country, which would benefit highway users throughout the country.
04/08/2016 08:46
