New Delhi, 24 March (H.S.):

Units of the National Highways Authority of India sponsored Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust (RIIT) made a promising stock market debut today Tuesday rewarding IPO investors with healthy listing premiums.

Priced at Rs 100 per unit in the offering the units opened at Rs 108 on BSE an 8 percent premium and Rs 107 on NSE a 7 percent gain before dipping to Rs 105.30 amid selling pressure. Buying interest soon steadied the price with units trading at Rs 106.38 on BSE and Rs 106.33 on NSE by 11 am translating to over 6.30 percent gains for allottees so far on this Tuesday morning.

The Rs 6000 crore IPO open from March 11 to 13 drew robust investor appetite closing with 13.74 times overall subscription. The qualified institutional buyers portion excluding anchors was subscribed 19.14 times while non institutional investors bid 7.26 times for their reserved quota. This fresh issue comprised 60 crore units of Rs 100 face value aimed at holding operational toll road assets.

RIIT plans to own and operate live toll road projects distributing the income to unit holders starting with five stretches totaling around 260 km across Jharkhand Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu and Karnataka including key routes like Chennai Bypass Chennai-Tada and Nelamangla-Tumkur. NHAI has approved adding another 1500 km of highways to the trust over the next three to five years supporting further growth.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar