14 - 05 - 2026

Press Release: Road InvITs AUM to grow 30% this fiscal led by asset monetisation surge

14 May 2026

Infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) have emerged as a key investment vehicle for enabling monetisation of infrastructure assets by private as well as public sector entities. Specifically, road sector InvITs are poised to see their assets under management (AUM) rise to ~Rs 3.9 lakh crore by March 2027, from ~Rs 3.0 lakh crore as of March 2026. The growth will be fuelled by monetisation of toll road assets by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and continued traction on hybrid annuity model (HAM) asset sale by road developers.

This will also be accompanied by increased asset diversification in InvIT portfolios across both geography and concession types, enhancing their resilience. Further, a widening investor pool and controlled leverage will keep credit profiles strong.

An analysis of the entire road InvIT universe, comprising 16 vehicles with over 200 assets spanning more than 15,000 km, indicates as much.

The AUM of road InvITs grew over 25% annually in the past two fiscals. The mix of InvIT AUM is currently dominated by toll road assets which form ~85%. This is on account of strength of toll road assets, which provide an opportunity to participate in India’s economic growth through rising traffic, coupled with inflation-indexed toll rate hikes.

Says Manish Gupta, Senior Director and Deputy Chief Ratings Officer, Crisil Ratings, “The AUM of road InvITs is poised for ~30% growth in fiscal 2027, with an addition of ~Rs 90,000 crore. While the addition will continue to be skewed towards toll road projects, its contribution to the incremental AUM will be lower than in the past at 60-62%, bringing down its share in overall AUM marginally to 80-82%. Annuity assets, predominantly HAM, will form the balance as road developers continue to focus on asset monetisation to maintain their balance sheet strength.”

The toll asset addition will largely come from investors flipping the historically acquired toll assets into InvITs and NHAI’s national monetisation pipeline 2.0.

The HAM asset addition of Rs 33,000-35,000 crore will be led by three factors. One, the acquisition of Rs 9,000-10,000 crore of announced pipeline of assets this fiscal, which provides strong visibility.

Two, the acquisition of Rs 10,000-12,000 crore of completed assets by HAM-focused InvITs from sponsors through a right of first offer, or ROFO. This provides growth opportunities for InvITs, while keeping the balance sheets of project developers resilient. And third, monetisation of assets by other road developers, which unlocks equity capital and reduces reliance on debt to fund growth. In the past five fiscals, good quality assets have typically generated healthy returns, with equity multiples of more than 1.5 times.

The growth of InvITs will be supported by healthy investor interest. While the equity capital in InvITs has historically come from foreign investors, the strong performance of the asset class has generated healthy domestic investor interest. The widening domestic investor base has also encouraged InvITs to look for public listing which will provide additional flexibility to fund the AUM growth.

With expansion in AUM, the road InvITs are likely to add to their geographical diversification, insulating them from region-specific risks. Most of InvITs assessed by Crisil Ratings have presence in multiple states – typically more than three.

Says Anand Kulkarni, Director, Crisil Ratings, “Diversified asset pool of road InvITs, in terms of both geographies and concession types, strengthen the portfolios. Also, addition of annuity assets provides stable and predictable cash flows. To fund the growth, leverage1 is likely to rise with estimated debt-to-enterprise value ratio inching up by 100-150 basis points by March 2027 from ~45%2 currently. Consequently, the average debt service coverage ratio, which currently stands comfortable at 1.7-1.8 times, could see a marginal decline but is still expected to remain strong which will keep credit risk profiles of road InvITs stable.”

All said, the quality of assets being acquired as well as quantum of debt funding for acquisitions will bear watching.