Skip to main content

Middle East funding for Indian roads

Funding from the Middle East looks set to help develop new Indian highway projects. Some $15.6 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), a UAE-based sovereign wealth fund, will be directed towards highway projects in India. This will be used for 50 highway projects in India on a toll-operate-transfer (TOT) basis. The Indian Government is planning to award 104 highway projects under the TOT model that will allow investments by private equity firms, infrastructure developers and institutional in
February 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Funding from the Middle East looks set to help develop new Indian highway projects. Some $15.6 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), a UAE-based sovereign wealth fund, will be directed towards highway projects in India. This will be used for 50 highway projects in India on a toll-operate-transfer (TOT) basis. The Indian Government is planning to award 104 highway projects under the TOT model that will allow investments by private equity firms, infrastructure developers and institutional investors such as pension and wealth funds. The TOT model will also allow the government to hand over operations of tolled roads to the private sector.

India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways says that it will increase the length of national highways to 200,000km from the existing 96,000km. This move will help cut congestion as around 40% of the country’s traffic uses India’s national highway network, despite this network comprising just 2% of the total road system. Some key projects are already in planning with $206.26 million being allocated for the east-west highway and plans for a second highway linking Dasna and Delhi that will feature 14 lanes. Meanwhile South Korean firm Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Daewoo E&C) will partner with Indian company L&T to construct the $480 million, six lane bridge spanning the River Ganges. The new route will stretch for nearly 23km and will be built in Bihar State.

Related Content

  • Indian highways road construction
    April 16, 2012
    Superlatives, once applied only to China's phenomenal growth, are now being used for India. Patrick Smith reports Those involved with the Naini Bridge in Allahabad are so proud of the result that they have set up an exhibition centre detailing its construction.
  • India’s longest tolled expressway is open to traffic
    January 2, 2013
    Earlier this year, a new expressway was opened to traffic in India, adding connectivity to the country’s road network - Mike Woof reports. India’s economic growth has fuelled a massive construction boom in the country. Road building has been set as a priority by the Indian Government to help ensure continued economic development and improve connectivity between major population centres. One major new expressway has recently opened to traffic, having been designed to international standards and provides insi
  • Boom in Asian infrastructure investment
    February 8, 2012
    Investment in China and India continues unabated, but other nations on the continent are eager to attract companies as Patrick Smith reports Asia is still booming despite the current economic crisis, and new infrastructure programmes are constantly coming on stream. Powerhouses China and India, with their double-digit growth figures and huge infrastructure plans (in scope and cost), are leading the way and are still magnets for businesses wishing to expand, both in terms of facilities and customers. But oth
  • India plans major infrastucture investment
    February 10, 2012
    India says it turned its Commonwealth Games into a world-class success, and now it aims to do the same with its infrastructure. Patrick Smith reports. On October, 2010 India put itself on the world stage, and disaster appeared to loom as a catalogue of problems dogged its biggest ever sporting event. Costing nearly US$2 billion to stage, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever were, according to some, in doubt.