The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded two highway projects (bundles 11 and 12) totaling 400 km for Rs 6,584 crore under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) paradigm, .

The 84-km-long Allahabad Bypass on NH-19 in Uttar Pradesh is the subject of TOT bundle-11, which Cube Highways and Infrastructure was awarded for a sum of Rs 2,156 crore.

For a sum of Rs 4,428 crore, IRB Infrastructure Trust (Private InvIT) has been granted TOT Bundle-12 for the 316 km Lalitpur-Sagar-Lakhnadon stretch that traverses both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The letter of award (LoA) was just delivered to the company. Between Srinagar in the north and Kanyakumari in the south, the TOT-12 project is the single largest major highway link, spanning 316 miles (1,264 Lane km).

The contract for TOT is to be carried out for 20 years, in which Concessionaires would be required to operate and maintain (O&M) the stretch. The TOT model has been developed to encourage private participation in the highway sector.

So far, NHAI has monetised 1,614 km of projects for Rs 26,366 crore through TOT and 636 km of projects for Rs 10,200 crore through InVIT. The first round of bids for the two bundles was called off, and the bids were re-invited. In the second round, NHAI received Rs 553 crore higher bids than in the first round.