State-run National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said on Friday that it has awarded Toll, Operate, and Transfer (TOT) bundle 16 for ₹6,661 crore.

The financial bids for TOT Bundle-16 were opened on September 18, 2024, for a 251 km long stretch on the Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor of NH-44 in Telangana and it has been awarded to Highway Infrastructure Trust for ₹6,661 crore, it said.

The concession period of TOT bundle is for 20 years in which the concessionaire will be required to maintain and operate the stretch. In lieu of this, the concessionaire will collect and retain user fee for the stretch in accordance with prescribed fee rates under national highway (NH) Fee Rules, it added.

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 TOT basis. In FY24, it awarded four TOT bundles worth Rs 15,968 crore against the monetisation target of Rs10,000 crore for that fiscal.

Commenting on the award, NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav said “TOT has been instrumental in unlocking the value of the road network and has immensely contributed towards the development of the National Highway Network in the country.”

The success rate of TOT mode in FY24 was 100 per cent with encouraging response being witnessed from the bidders. The government has been very supportive to achieve the national monetisation targets, and NHAI is committed to work towards realising this vision, he added.

In line with the national monetisation plan, NHAI’s total asset monetisation programme has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore which includes Rs 48,995 crore through TOT, Rs 25,900 crore through InvIT and Rs 42,000 crore through Securitisation.

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