Union Minister for Roads Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that the National Highways Authority of India has enough funds to increase the pace of road building. At the listing ceremony of the National Highways Infra Trust's non-convertible debentures, he said that there is no shortfall of funds for infrastructure development in India.
Gadkari's statement comes at a time when the pace of road construction has fallen to nearly 17 km a day in India, when the government is aiming to build 40 km of roadways a day, reported Moneycontrol.
The National Highway Infra Trust has issued and listed Non-Convertible Debentures or NCDs worth Rs 1,500 crore on the BSE, with a long-dated maturity of 25 years.
Gadkari said the listing of NCDs on Bombay Stock Exchange is historic as it marks the new dawn for People's Participation in Infra Funding. We have reserved 25 per cent of NCDs for Retail Investors. We could finally give the Retail Investors (retired citizens, salaried individuals, small and medium business owners) an opportunity to participate in the Nation-Building activity. The minimum investment slab is just Rs 10,000, he added.
“The round 2 of InvIT has been oversubscribed almost 7 times in just 7 hours of its opening. It offers an effective yield of 8.05 per cent per annum with highest credibility,” he added.
The minister said the internal rate of return in road infrastructure projects is very good. He said 26 greenfield expressways and several other projects are in the pipeline which will provide more investment opportunities. 70 percent of the construction of the Delhi-Mumbai highway has been completed, he added.
Gadkari also asked investors to continue their support to infrastructure projects to realise the vision of the $5-trillion economy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said infrastructure projects are economically viable and will give good returns.