CRISIL Research?s analysis of road projects under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) reveals HAM has expanded its network since its launch in February 2016. Over fiscals 2017 to 2019, HAM projects accounted for a quarter of the executed road projects and 45-50 per cent of the projects awarded.

A deep-dive project-by-project analysis by CRISIL Research reveals that of the 6,670 km HAM projects awarded by the NHAI during fiscals 2016 to 2019, a good 70-75 per cent has achieved financial closure, most of them by large developers with a turnover of over Rs 15 billion.

Though the foundation has been laid, some cracks have surfaced on the HAM highway. The smaller developers, many of which have changed lanes from engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects to HAM for the first time, are struggling to secure funding after bidding aggressively, and banks tightening capital requirements. The upshot has been a deceleration in the pace of financial closures.