The National Highways Authority (NHAI) has reached a key financial turning point, with its total debt dipping below Rs 2 trillion for the first time in years. As of April 2026, the agency’s outstanding borrowings stood at Rs 1.96 trillion, following the repayment of Rs 60.57 billion in the beginning of 2025-26. This reverses a decade-long trend of rising debt, which peaked at Rs 3.42 trillion in 2022-23.
This reduction in debt stems from multiple boosts – NHAI pocketed Rs 595.24 billion via monetisation through the infrastructure investment trusts (InvIT) route; record toll collections of Rs 649.40 billion, repayment of loans worth Rs 422.65 billion in 2025-26; and Rs 906.35 billion in 2024-25, of which Rs 500 billion was the repayment of loans raised from the National Small Savings Fund.