NHAI to lease out highways to private parties

“On the anvil are around 75 operational highways which when handed over to private players for operation and maintenance (O&M) are expected to create a new business opportunity which will be worth around Rs.4000 crore annually” they added. Officials said that it would be a year before the scheme fructified as priority would be given for capacity augmentation for national highways which were linked to the golden quadrilateral connecting Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkatta and Chennai. These four-laned highways would be widened to six lanes and then the remaining operational national highways be thrown open to private enterprise, they added. 

Of the 75 operational highways, nearly 25 are linked to the Golden Quadrilateral and of the remaining 50, priority would be given to those which had earning potential. An NHAI official said, “we are yet to work out the highways which will be included in the plan state wise.”  Though Tamil Nadu has many operational highways, not all have high earning potential.  “The earning potential of the Trichy-Karaikudi stretch in limited so much so that there are no bids for new ventures whereas the potential of the Tirunelveli-Toothukudi highway stretch was high,” the official added. 

NHAI took over the task of creating seamless national highways throughout the country which ensured quicker journeys thereby saving crores for the nation. Currently, O&M work on national highways is undertaken by NHAI or by those to whom it is outsourced. Officials said “with domestic players lacking the necessary expertise in this sector, there are chances of their partnering foreign players and the latter sensing opportunities in the world’s third largest road network have already started making discreet enquiries on the start of the process.”