Buoyed by the overwhelming response from retail investors to NHAI’s recent invitation to issue NCDs worth Rs 1,430 crore, Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said such fresh fund-raising on Friday in the retail segment would increase.
The minister addressed a BSE gathering after listing the second tranche of NHAI Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and NCDs, which raised Rs 1,430 crore earlier this month. The issue was subscribed to nearly seven times.
While 25 per cent of the issue was reserved for retail investors, NHAI did not specify how many times the retail portion was oversubscribed, instead saying it had received an overwhelming response.
Infrastructure investment trusts are mutual fund-like instruments designed to collect money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flow over some time.
“We want the more and more general public to invest in InvITs, I mean in our roads, and I can assure you that NHAI roads provide 100% protection to investors and the best internal rate of return. So, in the future, we will have more shares reserved for retail,” Gadkari said without divulging any numbers.
Addressing the gathering, NHAI Chairperson Alka Upadhyay also said that more units will be reserved for retail in the upcoming InvITs of NHAI but did not specify the quantum.
Gadkari said that InvIT had raised Rs 8,000 crore from foreign and domestic institutional investors, but the second tranche was particular as 25 per cent of NCDs were reserved for retail investors.
