The Centre is planning monetisation worth Rs 1.6 lakh crore from the National Highways over the next four years, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Monday (22 November).

He added that the Centre's road assets monetisation plan has already fetched around Rs 25,000 crore.

"We have chalked out a plan for monetisating the existing highway assets for infra-capital generation. Roads have the target share in the National Monetisation Plan at 26 per cent with a target of Rs 1.6 lakh crore over four years," Gadkari said while virtually addressing the Indian Channel of Commerce (ICC) AGM and annual session on Bharat@75 ‘Empowering India: Today for Tomorrow’.

"Out of this, approximately Rs 25,000 crore has already been realised," he added.

The minister further said that implementing alternate instruments like monetisation of existing assets has been channelised through InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust), toll-operate-transport (TOT) and SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) formation for enabling wider investor participation.

The government’s overall digitisation drive in running and maintaining the NHs has been helping it in monetisation through toll plazas and fast track systems. The Road Ministry was looking forward towards creating an additional `lakh km of national highways in phases, Gadkari said, reports Financial Express.

Gadkari also said that the government is seeking new technologies for highway construction with waste materials like waste plastic to make highways less cement and steel intensive to reduce cost of construction.