NHAI prepays Rs 560 Bn loans as Capex fall

NHAI has pre-paid loans of Rs 560 billion during the current fiscal year and is looking to further reduce its debt burden by March. Around Rs 400 billion 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 trillion at the start of April 2024 and is now estimated to have come down to around Rs 2.8 trillion. 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 12 billion. “The prepayment of loan has been made to National Small Saving Fund (NSSF) and some commercial banks, which charge high interest rates. For the current financial year, govt has set the target of raising around Rs 390 billion from monetisation of completed projects and funds raised through this route will be used to further repay loans. NHAI has pre-paid loans of Rs 560 billion during the current fiscal year and is looking to further reduce its debt burden by March. Around Rs 400 billion 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 trillion. 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 12 billion. “The prepayment of loan has been made to National Small Saving Fund (NSSF) and some commercial banks, which charge high interest rates. Around Rs 157 billion 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 390 billion from monetisation of completed projects and funds raised through this route will be used to further repay loans.