Private sector may commit a record ₹1 trillion to highways construction in FY27

₹1 trillion towards highway construction in FY27, potentially marking the largest annual private sector investment in India’s roads sector, according to two people aware of the matter.Projects worth around ₹35,000 crore, reserved exclusively for private participation under the build-operate-transfer (toll) model, are likely to be bid out in the first three months of the next fiscal year, according to the first person cited above.Detailed project reports for projects worth ₹50,000–60,000 crore are being finalised and are expected to be opened for bidding in the third and fourth quarters of FY27.“As all these would be BOT (toll) projects, the private sector is expected to give investment commitments of close to ₹1 trillion for building greenfield highways,” the person said.The push signals a renewed push to crowd in private capital after years of limited activity under build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.

Under the framework, developers finance, build and operate highway projects during a concession period of 20–30 years, recouping investments through toll collections.Unlike the hybrid annuity model (HAM), BOT (toll) requires significantly higher upfront equity and exposes developers to traffic and revenue risk.Most of the upcoming awards are expected to comprise six-lane, access-controlled corridors, underscoring the government’s focus on high-capacity highways aimed at improving logistics efficiency and cutting travel time.The proposed ₹1 trillion commitment would represent a sharp scale-up in private participation, even as overall project awarding moderated in recent years, said the second person quoted earlier.Mint had reported on 19 January that the government planned to bid out ₹75,000 crore worth of highways under