NHAI prepays Rs 56,000 crore loans as Capex fall

NEW DELHI: NHAI has pre-paid loans of Rs 56,000 crore during the current fiscal year and is looking to further reduce its debt burden by March. Around Rs 40,000 crore has come from budgetary allocation as the overall capex is lower this year due to award of fewer contracts and approval of lesser new projects, and fall in land acquisition.
NHAI’s debt was pegged at around Rs 3.3 lakh crore at the start of April and is now estimated to have come down to around Rs 2.8 lakh crore. Loans from the National Small Saving Fund and some commercial banks, which charge high interest rates, have been prepaid, an official said, adding that pre-payment will help save interest cost of around Rs 1,200 crore.
“The prepayment of loan has been made to National Small Saving Fund (NSSF) and some commercial banks, which charge high interest rates. Around Rs 15,700 crore has been prepaid from the InvIT monetisation proceeds,” said an official.
For the current financial year, govt has set the target of raising around Rs 39,000 crore from monetisation of completed projects and funds raised through this route will be used to further repay loans.
Earlier, the total loan had touched the maximum of Rs 3.5 lakh crore in 2021-22 as the highways authority continued heavy borrowing for around six consecutive years for road development. Considering the high burden of debt, the govt stopped NHAI from fresh borrowings and the overall budgetary allocation has been increased substantially.
NHAI’s assessment showed that its repayment obligations would peak to Rs 62,000 crore in 2027-28, while its toll revenue would rise to Rs 69,000 crore, leaving it with a small surplus.
It is also banking on a massive jump in revenue from wayside amenities, complexes along NHs being developed for rest and refreshment of commuters having facilities for staying, fuel station, food courts and other facilities, which is projected to rise to nearly Rs 1,400 crore by 2027-28.
The estimates put together by NHAI are seen to be aimed at countering this perception and suggest that it has not taken over liabilities beyond its capacity to pay back.