Chennai: National Highways Infrastructure Trust, a registered infrastructure investment trust under the InvIT Regulations, sponsored by NHAI (an autonomous authority of the GoI) has filed its draft prospectus for a public issue of secured, rated, listed, redeemable, non-convertible debentures.
NHIT currently own, operate and maintain a portfolio of 5 initial toll roads spanning ~389 kms in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Karnataka and intends to toll, operate and maintain 3 more toll roads spanning 246 kms in the states of Telangana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh under the Toll Operate and Transfer model conceived by NHAI.
The Net Proceeds are proposed to be utilized towards infusion of debt into the Project SPV of NHIT, repayment of the bridge loan facility of NHIT (availed, if any), and general corporate purposes. The Infusion of funds will help the SPVs meet the obligations under the Concession Agreements and allow the Project SPV to acquire necessary rights under the Concession Agreement.
The issue will be for an amount aggregating upto Rs 1,500 crore (hereinafter referred to as the “Issue”) comprising of upto 15,000,000 NCDs (consisting of 15,000,000 STRPP A, 15,000,000 STRPP B and 15,000,000 STRPP C). The three STRPP will be of different face value, different maturity and shall be redeemable (i) at par; and (ii) in a staggered manner.
As of the quarter ended June 30, 2022, the unit capital stood at ? 6,011.52 crore comprising of 595.20 million units.
Project SPV shall have the right to collect tolls for periods of 20 years or 30 years, as applicable under the relevant Concession Agreement. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has a consistent track record of growth and operational performance. It has been entrusted with the National Highways Development Project which along with minor projects has vested in it 50,329 kms of national highways for development, maintenance, and management.
The minimum subscription for public issue of debentures is 75% of its base issue size and the NCDs shall be listed within 6 (six) Working Days from the issue closing date. Each NCD comprising of three STRPPs would be allotted in a dematerialized form and each STRPP would be a trading lot.
Lead Managers for the Issue are JM Financial Limited, A.K. Capital Services Limited, ICICI Securities Limited, SBI Capital Markets Limited, and Trust Investment Advisors Private Limited. The credit rating agencies appointed are CARE Ratings Limited and India Ratings and Research Private Limited. Registrar to the Issue is KFin Technologies Limited.
Road transport is the dominant mode of transport in India, in terms of traffic share and contribution to the national economy. India has the second largest road network in the world, aggregating 6.2 million km. As of FY19, National highways constitute around 2% of the country’s road network but carry about 40% of the total road traffic.
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