New Terms for Highway TOT Contracts Soon

Centre has nearly concluded talks on monetisation of road assets

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA

The monetisation of road assets through toll rights—which was put on hold over two months ago—would start soon as the Centre has nearly concluded deliberations on whether to continue with the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) mode in its current form.

Under TOT, operational national highways by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are awarded to private players, who collect toll, operate and maintain the roads, and benefit from the surplus toll revenues. The model, alongside Invits, has allowed several Indian and international investment funds to enter the infrastructure space by generating returns on operational roads.

In February, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and the ministry's secretary V Umashankar had written to NHAI, asking for a comprehensive review of all assets awarded under TOT by the ministry, ordering a pause on all TOT bundles until a comparative analysis between Invits and TOTs was complete.