IRB Infrastructure
IRB Infrastructure to go solo for NHAI auction. Credit: Adityamadhav83.

IRB Infrastructure Developers has decided to participate alone in the second toll-operate-transfer rights (TOT) auction to be held by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

The Indian highway construction firm previously formed a JV with infrastructure group Atlantia and submitted bids in the first TOT auction for nine projects. IRB was the only Indian road construction firm to participate in the first TOT auction.

IRB group CFO Anil Yadav told The Hindu Business Line that the company will not establish a JV with any global firm and will instead go solo in the auction.

Yadav told the publication: “One TOT (package) is in the pipeline, and we are qualified individually also. So if the size is big, we can bid in the JV but if it is smaller, we could participate alone.

“One TOT (package) is in the pipeline, and we are qualified individually also.”

“NHAI has already identified 50 or 60 projects for auctioning, but they wanted to see that financial closure is happening. So probably before general elections we will see around Rs700bn ($9.6bn) – Rs800bn ($10.98bn) worth of projects coming from NHAI side.”

The second TOT auction is expected to take place by the end of this year.

IRB’s board has approved a plan to raise up to Rs15bn ($206m) for participating in the second TOT auction.

It is set to achieve financial closure for its Rs34bn ($466.75m) Hapur-Moradabad build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, which the company won in March 2017.

IRB have also recently tied up funds for three hybrid annuity model (HAM) projects, funded partly by IRB Infrastructure and the NHAI, and have secured funding support worth Rs26bn ($357m) from NBFCs and banks for three additional projects.