NHAI road financing: IDFC launches common platform for stakeholders

MUMBAI: Leading fund house, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) on Thursday said it has launched a common platform of all stakeholders to bring them under one umbrella to devise a common set of financing documents concerning NHAI road project financing.

A core group of the lending community, including banks and financial institutions, has been formed for this purpose, a press release issued in Mumbai said.

"Currently the lending community involved in financing the NHAI road projects share a common concern with NHAI and road developers in respect of the difficulties faced whilst achieving financial closure within the timelines agreed in the concession agreements. This leads to a delay in development of road projects," IDFC Group's General Counsel and Group Head- Legal and Compliance, Dr Rajeev Uberoi, said.

Therefore, there is a need to have common standardised financing documents concerning the NHAI road sector, he said.

IDFC's executive director, Vikram Limaye, and NHAI Member (Finance), Dr JN Singh, had deliberations on the common concerns shared by all the stakeholders involved in financing the NHAI road project financing in August this year.

One of the solutions emerged out of the deliberations was to have a common set of financing documents for NHAI road projects financing, which can be a benchmark for all the lenders and the borrower involved in this sector, the release said.