SBI Mulls Lending ₹35,000 Cr to NHAI For Highway Projects: Rajnish Kumar

Bank examining NHAI’s proposal to raise funds via securitisation of toll proceeds

- P Manoj/Venkatesh Ganesh

State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, is “examining” a proposal from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to lend as much as 35,000 crore through securitisation of toll receipts to partfund highway projects this year, Chairman Rajnish Kumar said.

“We are examining NHAI’s proposal to raise funds through securitisation of toll proceeds. We are looking at 30,000-35,000 crore, but not all of that will be funded by SBI,” Kumar told BusinessLine on the sidelines of a roadshow organised by NHAI on Monday.

“NHAI has huge cash flows. We are ready to give money to whoever needs it. It depends on how much and which route/ model needs money,” he said.

Part of NHAI borrowings this fiscal could also be funded by LIC and EPFO, a top LIC official said.

During the last three years, the State-run insurer has lent about 25,000 crore to NHAI for a 30-years tenure, the LIC official said adding that being an insurer with long-term funds, LIC was not handicapped by the asset-liability mismatch which banks typically face in funding long-gestation infrastructure projects.