Upcoming IPO: National Infrastructure Trust files DRHP for ₹1,600-crore public issue

Upcoming IPO: National Infrastructure Trust has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise ₹1,600 crore,  as per an official document.

National Infrastructure Trust was established by Gawar Construction Limited (GCL), on September 25, 2023, and registered with SEBI on March 7, 2024. NIT plans to invest in and manage a portfolio of infrastructure assets across India.

National Infrastructure Trust (NIT) IPO breakdown

The proposed IPO will include a fresh issue of units worth up to ₹1,200 crore and an offer for sale of up to ₹400 crore by a Sponsor Selling Unitholder. The offering will be conducted through a book-building process, with 75 per cent of the units available to institutional investors (excluding the strategic investor portion) and the remaining 25 per cent to non-institutional investors.

The trustee and investment manager for the issue are Axis Trustee Services Limited and Gawar Investment Manager Private Limited, respectively.

The Trust plans to acquire and manage nine completed, revenue-generating assets, covering approximately 683.875 kilometres of road infrastructure across various states, including Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttarakhand.

For Fiscal 2024, the revenue from operations for the SPV was ₹1,485 crore, compared to ₹2,033 crore in Fiscal 2023 and ₹1,908 crore in Fiscal 2022. Projected cash flows for FY25, FY26, and FY27 are estimated at ₹582 crore, ₹662 crore, and ₹585 crore, respectively. The initial portfolio is expected to generate annuities totalling ₹6,020.10 crore by the end of its concession period, with ₹464.53 crore received as of June 30, 2024, as per the DRHP.

The Government of India has allocated ₹111 lakh crore (US$ 1.4 trillion) under the National Infrastructure Pipeline for FY25, with 202 national highway projects worth ₹79,789 crore (US$ 9.59 billion) currently underway.

SBI Capital Markets and HDFC Bank have been appointed as the lead managers for the IPO. The units are expected to be listed on both the BSE and the NSE, as per the DRHP.