NHAI Slashes Debt by Rs 56,000 Crore, Saving Rs 1,200 Crore in Interest

The National Highways Authority of India has prepaid loans amounting to Rs 56,000 crore during the current fiscal, reducing its interest cost by approximately Rs 1,200 crore. This financial maneuver significantly decreases NHAI's total debt from Rs 3.35 lakh crore to Rs 2.76 lakh crore.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has made a strategic financial move by pre-paying loans worth Rs 56,000 crore this fiscal year, leading to savings of approximately Rs 1,200 crore in interest costs, a senior government official disclosed on Sunday.

According to the official, NHAI's debt stood at Rs 3.35 lakh crore at the start of the fiscal year and has now been brought down to about Rs 2.76 lakh crore by the end of the third quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

As part of this debt reduction strategy, NHAI has prepaid Rs 15,700 crore from its InvIT monetisation proceeds and an additional Rs 40,000 crore to the National Small Saving Fund and State Bank of India, both of which have high-interest loans. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 1.68 lakh crore to NHAI for the 2024-25 financial year in her latest budget.

(With inputs from agencies.)