NEWS : INFRASTRUCTURE
India will be mobilised. Infrastructure will play an
important role in ushering in a prosperous India
NHAI plans to seek new investor for
Mumbai-Pune Expressway
Warehousing sector attracts USD 6.8
bn funds since 2014
The warehousing sector has attracted
around USD 6.8 billion (approximately Rs 47,385
crore) funds since 2014 from institutional
investors and developers amid rising
demand for logistic spaces from manufacturing
and e-commerce players post implementation
o f G S T, a c c o r d i n g t o e x p e r t s . L e a s i n g
of warehousing spaces went up by 77 per cent
last calendar year to 46.2 million sq ft, experts
said in its India Warehousing Market 2019.
The warehousing industry has witnessed
massive participation from institutional
investors, as well as developers, who
have collectively invested over USD 6.8 billion
since 2014, with an average investment per
deal of USD 282 million. Private equity (PE)
funds had a 49 per cent share of the total
investments into the warehousing industry.
This was followed by sovereign and pension
funds at 31 per cent and developers at 20 per
cent. As much as 83 per cent of the investments
in warehousing assets were infused
into developments of new projects. According
to the report, total warehousing space demand
is currently estimated at 68 million sq mt (739
million sq ft) for the manufacturing sector, and
this is projected to grow at a compounded
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5 per cent in
the next five years to 86 million sq mt (922 million
sq ft) by 2024
The National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) plans to find a new operator for
the Mumbai - Pune Expressway, one of the
country’s busiest, with the agreement with
IRB Infrastructure Developers set to end in
August. NHAI expects the new deal will
value the expressway at $1-1.2 billion (Rs 7,000-
8,000 crore). SBI Capital Markets has
been mandated to find a buyer for the asset
and feelers have been sent to global and
domestic infrastructure developers such
as Macquarie, Cube Highways and National
Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
All have significant exposure in the toll
roads segment. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway
project — which is being operated on a
build-operate-transfer (BOT) model —
contributed the highest revenue of Rs 918 crore
in FY19 to the state-run authority, followed
by the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway at Rs
429 crore. NHAI’s revenue stood at Rs 6,903 crore
in FY19. In August 2004, Maharashtra State
Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC)
and Mhaiskar Infrastructure Private Ltd
(MIPL ) —an SPV of IRB Infrastructure
Developers —entered into a concession
agreement to develop, operate and maintain
the Mumbai-Pune section of NH-4, and carry
out O&M (operations and maintenance) on
the entire highway as well as the 93-km
Mumbai-Pune Expressway project for
15 years.
PAGE 09 I METROBERRY I JULY 2019