REC Limited organizes a conference on financing for Roads & Highways

Gurugram/New Delhi: REC Limited, a Maharatna CPSE under the Ministry of Power, hosted a conference on ‘Financing for Roads and Highways’. The objective of the conference was to bring all key stakeholders under one roof and to discuss the financial aspects of the sector. The conference held in New Delhi, was attended by key stakeholders from the government and industry, including those from the Road and Highways sectors. The conference also had participation from Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), NHAI, IRC, NBHF, State Road Development organizations, industry policymakers, and developers.

Four MoUs worth Rs. 16,000 Crore were signed with Dilip Buildcon Limited, GMR Power & Urban Infra, CDS Infra Projects Limited & DP Jain & Co. Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., according to the company Press Release.

In his welcome address,  CMD Vivek Kumar Dewangan, IAS, gave an overview of REC’s loan portfolio, along with the company’s vision for financing non-power infrastructure, with a special focus on the road sector. Mr. Dewangan further averred that Roads and Highways industry in India plays a pivotal role in our economic progress.

“The Government’s initiatives like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, National Infrastructure Pipeline have set the stage for expansion in the Roads sector. The need for customized debt financing solutions has never been more pressing. We, at REC Limited, are committed to being a partner in this journey,” he added.

Addressing the participants, Mr.  Anurag Jain, IAS, Secretary (RT&H) MoRTH,  highlighted the MoRTH’s vision for the development of the sector & ease of financing road projects. He talked about India’s roads and highways journey and said the quality of roads has  improved significantly  from the last few years. Along with this, he hoped that REC Limited and MoRTH would grow together.

The conference featured presentations from REC and the Road and Highways agencies, highlighting their unique perspectives on financing challenges and opportunities within the sector. It provided an opportunity for the presentation of both lenders’ and borrowers’ perspectives, followed by an open forum discussion, in which queries of Road and Highway developers were addressed.