India’s largest infrastructure investment trust offering of 2026 begins its anchor investor bidding process today, March 10, as Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust — sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India — opens its book to domestic institutional buyers a day before the three-day public subscription window launches on March 11. The offering is the most consequential test yet of whether India’s institutional investor community will embrace government-sponsored yield instruments as a meaningful alternative to equity market volatility — particularly in a week where oil prices and geopolitical risk have erased trillions of rupees in BSE market capitalisation.
What Is Being Offered, and to Whom
The ₹6,000 crore issue, priced at a band of ₹99 to ₹100 per unit with a minimum application of 150 units, opens for public subscription on March 11 and closes on March 13. Allotment is expected on March 18, with listing on BSE and NSE on March 24. CBT News
A critical detail for any investor reading coverage of this offering: the allocation structure reserves 75 per cent of the net issue for institutional investors and 25 per cent for non-institutional investors. The retail individual investor quota is zero per cent. NBC News This is not a product for small savers looking to participate directly via their demat accounts at the IPO stage. NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav confirmed ahead of the issue that the anchor portion — approximately ₹1,700 crore of the total — will be allocated exclusively to domestic institutional investors, with foreign investors excluded from the anchor book. Automotive Manufacturing Solutions
NHAI described the issue as the first time it has opened its asset monetisation programme to any class of public investor. The investment manager, Raajmarg Infra Investment Managers Private Limited, is a collaborative entity with equity participation from SBI, Punjab National Bank, NaBFID, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv Ventures, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, IndusInd Bank, and YES Bank. Automotive Manufacturing Solutions
The Assets Being Monetised
The trust holds five operational toll roads totalling 260.198 kilometres across Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka — all part of the Golden Quadrilateral national highway network. The roads operate under the Toll Operate Transfer model, under which the operator receives the right to collect toll revenue and maintain the highways for a fixed concession period, with the underlying ownership remaining with NHAI. CNBC
The portfolio is valued at ₹9,500 crore, with the InvIT’s enterprise value estimated at approximately ₹9,800 crore. The five assets’ combined revenue is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1 per cent from ₹925.8 crore in FY27 to ₹2,738.7 crore in FY41, according to the valuation report. EBITDA is estimated to grow from ₹876.6 crore in FY27 to ₹2,442.1 crore over the same period. Raajmarg also holds a Right of First Offer agreement with NHAI, under which the authority has committed to transferring up to 1,500 kilometres of additional road assets to the trust over the next three to five years — a pipeline that would substantially expand the trust’s footprint if exercised. CNBC
The proceeds from the ₹6,000 crore issue will be utilised for the infusion of debt and equity into the project Special Purpose Vehicle, which will in turn pay the concession value of the InvIT assets to NHAI, and for general purposes. CNBC
What InvITs Are, and Why the Timing Matters
Infrastructure Investment Trusts are SEBI-regulated vehicles designed to hold and operate income-generating infrastructure assets — roads, power lines, gas pipelines — and distribute the majority of cash flows to unitholders on a regular basis. Unlike equity in a listed company, where dividends are discretionary, InvITs operating under SEBI’s framework are mandated to distribute at least 90 per cent of their net distributable cash flows.
The sector has grown substantially. According to the Bharat InvITs Association, total assets under management of listed InvITs stood at ₹7 lakh crore as of September 2025 and are projected to reach ₹21 lakh crore by 2030 — growth of over 1,000 per cent in the last five years. InvITs in aggregate have distributed over ₹83,770 crore to unitholders since their inception in India, including ₹10,000 crore in the first two quarters of FY26 and ₹5,565 crore in the third quarter alone.
The timing of this particular offering is also shaped by a change in regulatory architecture. A SEBI amendment effective in the first quarter of 2026 allows actively managed equity mutual funds to invest in InvITs and REITs from their residual allocation. The practical effect is to expand the pool of domestic institutional buyers eligible to participate in offerings like the Raajmarg issue — directly relevant to why ₹1,700 crore of anchor allocation is available to domestic institutions today.
The Revenue Mechanics: Why Toll Roads as an Asset Class
Toll-road InvITs derive their appeal from several structural features that equity investors in conventional listed companies do not receive. Revenue is contractually linked to physical traffic and nationally mandated toll schedules rather than subject to competitive pressures or pricing discretion. The Raajmarg InvIT’s toll rates, per its prospectus, are structured to increase by 3 per cent annually plus 40 per cent of any change in the Wholesale Price Index — providing a partial hedge against input cost inflation over the concession period.
The risk profile, however, carries its own variables. Traffic growth on specific corridors is not guaranteed, and actual toll collections depend on economic conditions, route competition from alternate roads, and the ongoing operational maintenance discipline of the project SPV. ICRA’s broader road sector projection — that monetisation of NHAI-identified assets could reach ₹35,000 to ₹40,000 crore in FY26 — is contingent on timely execution, a consideration that has historically been variable in large government asset programmes.
The Distinction the Research Must Make
The juxtaposition of this offering against the current equity market environment — a Nifty 50 that shed over 700 points on Monday — is real but requires precision. InvIT units are listed instruments and their secondary market prices are subject to interest rate movements, liquidity conditions, and investor sentiment, just as equities are. The mandatory 90 per cent distribution requirement provides income visibility; it does not eliminate mark-to-market risk for investors who need to exit before the concession period concludes.
NRVVMK Rajendra Kumar, Member Finance at NHAI and MD & CEO of Raajmarg Infra Investment Managers, described the offering as providing “access to a wider set of investors” while broadening the InvIT landscape as “a regulated and highly active financial instrument.” He noted that the objective of the offering was to support NHAI’s asset monetisation targets and facilitate further capital recycling into new highway development. CNBC What it is not — at the IPO stage at least — is a retail savings product. Individual investors who are interested in exposure to this asset class would need to access it through the secondary market after listing on March 24, or through mutual funds that choose to allocate a portion of their InvIT-eligible corpus to Raajmarg units.
All issue details are sourced from Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust’s Red Herring Prospectus as reported by Business Standard, APN News, Free Press Journal, and IPO Watch. The anchor allocation date of March 10 is confirmed. All financial projections cited — including CAGR, EBITDA growth, and AUM figures — are sourced from the InvIT’s valuation report and the Bharat InvITs Association, as reported by Business Standard. This article is for informational and journalistic purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors are advised to read the RHP in full and consult a registered financial advisor before making investment decisions.
