The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Monday said that it has awarded Toll, Operate and Transfer (TOT) bundles 13 and 14, with a combined length of 273 km, for ₹9,384 crore. The financial bids were opened on Thursday (November 14). With the approval of the concerned authorities, the Letter of Award (LoA) has been issued within a day to the successful bidders.
The TOT bundle 13, which includes Kota Bypass and Stay Bridge on NH-76 in Rajasthan, as well as the Gwalior-Jhansi section of NH-75 in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, has been awarded to IRB Infrastructure Trust for ₹1,683 crore, NHAI said.
Similarly, the TOT bundle 14, which consists of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway including the Delhi-Hapur section of NH-9 in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, and the Binjabahal to Teliebani section of NH-6 in the Odisha, has been awarded to Cube Highways and Infrastructure for ₹7,701 crore, it added.
The concession period of TOT bundles is for 20 years during which concessionaires would be required to maintain and operate the stretch. In lieu, concessionaires will collect and retain user fees for these stretches in accordance with prescribed fee rates under NH Fee Rules.
Bundles 11, 12
In October 2023, NHAI had awarded TOT bundles 11 and 12 for a combined length of 400 km for ₹6,584 crore. The bundles consisted of Allahabad Bypass on NH19 in Uttar Pradesh and Lalitpur–Sagar-Lakhnadon section in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.
The combined value of the four TOT bundles awarded in FY24 is around ₹15,968 crore, which is higher than the monetisation target of ₹10,000 crore for the current fiscal.
The TOT model has been developed to encourage private participation in the highway sector. NHAI from time to time has awarded contracts for tolling, operation and maintenance of various national highway stretches on a toll, operate, transfer basis. TOT has been instrumental in unlocking the value of the road network and has contributed towards the development of the national highway network in the country.