The NHAI is set to receive an advance payment of a little more than Rs 62.67 billion from the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) route for the 135 km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) project in Delhi-NCR. The EPE, the country’s first green expressway, begins near Kundli on NH-1 and connects to the Western Peripheral Expressway at Palwal on NH-2. It operates on a closed tolling system, with tolls collected only on the basis of distance travelled.
The revenues will be utilised to construct new roadway segments and repay debt. As of November 2021, NHAI’s debt totalled Rs 3.38 trillion. Recently, the government opted not to announce the reserve price for TOT bundles, allowing the market to determine the price. None of the bids met the floor price of Rs 56.32 billion for the second TOT bundle’s 586.55 km length, forcing NHAI to terminate the project. Cube Highways acquired the third 566 km bundle for an upfront payment of Rs 50.11 billion.