Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 22: Highway Infrastructure Ltd (HIL), a tollway operations company, is shifting its strategic focus to southern India, citing strong growth prospects and rising infrastructure development in the region.
“As a strategy for the company we have decided to expand to the southern states. Earlier we were more focused on the northern and western parts of India,” said Riddharth Jain, Director and CEO of Highway Infrastructure Ltd, in an interview.
He said that following the company’s IPO and induction of experienced professionals into the team, HIL has recalibrated its growth strategy. “We are very confident now for a pan-India reach,” Jain added.
According to him, southern states, along with parts of Gujarat and the Delhi NCR region, have delivered promising returns. In January 2026, the company commenced toll operations at the Kaza Fee Plaza on the Chilakaluripet–Vijayawada section of NH-16 in Andhra Pradesh.
The project spans from Km 355.0 to Km 437.5, covering an aggregate length of 82.5 km on NH-16 — a key north-south national highway corridor linking major economic hubs in southern and eastern India.
This marks HIL’s first toll operations contract of such scale, with a total contract value of ?328.77 crore awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
“At this plaza we have very high volume. This is the largest plaza in all five southern states combined,” Jain said.
Highlighting the company’s financial performance, he said HIL recorded a 404 per cent growth since March 2025, with revenue rising from Rs 114 crore to ?575 crore, reflecting rapid expansion in its toll operations vertical.
“We are more focused on profitability. We are trying to pick more profitable and high-growth tenders instead of just adding contracts,” he said.
On industry trends, Jain noted that infrastructure has become the backbone of development in a growing economy like India. “New roads and tollways will continue to be built, which presents a significant opportunity for us. This trend is expected to remain stable over the next 10 years,” he added.
He said HIL is positioning itself as a technology-focused company and believes that one-year contracts are optimal in the toll business due to the continuous addition of new roads.
The toll sector in India has witnessed robust growth over the past five years. Annual collections have more than doubled from approximately ?27,504 crore in 2019-20 to over Rs 64,800 crore in 2023-24, driven by increased infrastructure development, widespread adoption of FASTag and rising commercial vehicle movement.
In the first quarter of FY26 (April–June 2025), toll collections surged 19.6 per cent year-on-year to a record Rs 20,681.87 crore, supported by an annual rate hike of 4–5 per cent.
Industry officials said the government aims to increase annual toll collections to ?1.4 lakh crore ($17–18 billion) in the next two to three years by expanding the national highway network and adopting advanced technologies such as satellite-based tolling under a multi-lane free flow system.