NHAI to set up InvIT for investment in highway sector

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will set up an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) to facilitate investment in the highway sector. In order to select the best talent from the market for the appointment of two independent Directors and one Chairman for the Investment Manager Board, a search-cum-selection committee has been formed. 

As NHAI InvIT will be the first InvIT to be sponsored by any government or semi-government entity in the country, it is important to have a professional management structure for the investment manager. As part of the structure, a new company is being set up to act as the Investment Manager to the proposed InvIT.

NHAI Chairman Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu is the convenor of the committee and other members include Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation Deepak Parekh; ICICI Bank Chairman Girish Chandra Chaturvedi, and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Ex-Secretary Sanjay Mitra.

The idea is to set up a competent entity of experts that can professionally run the Infrastructure Trust to mobilize resources from the market for monetizing completed highway projects of NHAI. In financial parlance, an InvITs is a collective investment scheme through which individuals and institutional investors can directly invest in infrastructure projects.