FCC

Adani Group’s focus to maintain and execute existing highway projects

2023-03-02

Adani Enterprises will wait till the present volatility around its share price, caused by a report by US- based short seller Hindenburg Research, calms before making further investments in new road projects. The troubled conglomerate would prioritise finishing current initiatives, such as the Ganga Expressway, before making any new capital investments.

With more than Rs 410 billion of projects under management and at least 5000 km of lanes being maintained and built, Adani's road transportation business includes at least eight hybrid annuity mode (HAM) projects, five build-own-transfer (BOT) projects, and one toll-operate-transfer (TOT) project across ten states in the nation. The group had aspirations to become a major force in road transportation.

Adani Road Transport, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ports-to-power infrastructure juggernaut, would also not submit a proposal for the next eleventh and twelfth bundles of the NHAI's TOT projects as part of its new strategy for the highway sector. It has taken part in earlier TOT bids and even won a few of them. The TOT concept was created to promote private investment in the roads industry.

The TOT approach allows the concessionaire to operate and toll the project stretch for the predetermined 30-year concession period by paying a one-time concession charge upfront (lump amount). Highway EPC and BOT (Annuity) projects that have been finished at least two years after the completion date are covered by this model.