Oriental InfraTrust hands Indore Khalghat toll plaza to NHAI

Oriental InfraTrust handed Indore Khalghat’s toll plaza to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at 3:00 pm on 30 September 2026, when the project’s concession period expired. OIT has an extension until 30 November 2026, but it applies solely to completing outstanding divestment requirements rather than toll-plaza operations.

When did OIT hand over the Indore Khalghat toll plaza?

OIT handed over the Indore Khalghat toll plaza to NHAI at 3:00 pm on 30 September 2026, the same date on which the concession period expired. The disclosed handover marks the transfer of toll-plaza control to NHAI at the contractual end of the project.

NHAI granted the project entity an extension up to 30 November 2026 solely for completion of divestment requirement works. OIT said a supplementary agreement had been executed for this purpose and that the project entity was completing the outstanding requirements within the extended timeline.

The two dates distinguish the toll-plaza handover from the subsequent work period. The 30 September 2026 concession expiry and 3:00 pm handover occurred before the two-month extension window ending 30 November 2026, which OIT describes as limited to divestment works.

What traffic did Indore Khalghat carry before handover?

Indore Khalghat recorded average daily traffic of 24,391 vehicles in Q2'27, up from 22,865 vehicles in Q2'26. The increase of 1,526 vehicles per day occurred before the 30 September 2026 handover, showing higher total recorded traffic as the concession approached expiry.

Cars accounted for most of the change, rising by 1,471 vehicles per day to 12,326 in Q2'27. Light commercial vehicles, or LCVs, rose by 110, while truck and bus traffic increased by 226; multi-axle vehicles, or MAVs with three to six axles, declined by 282 to 6,154.

The Q2'27 total of 24,391 vehicles per day also exceeded the FY26 average of 23,746 and the FY25 average of 21,587. The source therefore records higher traffic across these periods, although the concession ended on 30 September 2026 under its contractual timeline.

What divestment work remains for OIT at Indore Khalghat?

OIT must complete outstanding divestment requirement works by 30 November 2026 under the NHAI extension. The maintenance works disclosed for Indore Khalghat include micro surfacing, bituminous concrete, kerb painting, crash-barrier painting and road markings.

The operations report says these works were undertaken to meet divestment requirements, differentiating them from works identified as site requirements at other projects. The supplementary agreement provides the basis for the limited extension following the toll-plaza handover at 3:00 pm on 30 September 2026.

OIT did not disclose a completion percentage for the Indore Khalghat programme, unlike some change-of-scope works elsewhere in the portfolio. Its stated position is that the project entity was in the process of completing the outstanding requirements within the 30 November 2026 deadline.

How does the Indore Khalghat handover differ from OIT's other project matters?

OIT's Indore Khalghat matter concerns concession expiry and handback, while the Nagpur Bypass matter concerns future capacity augmentation. NHAI permitted the start of six-laning work on 5 October 2026 across two Nagpur Bypass sections totalling 41.5 kilometres: Jamtha-Borkhedi at 22 kilometres and the Nagpur bypass section at 19.5 kilometres.

At Nagpur Bypass, OIT said chain-link fencing and noise-barrier work in the forest section was about 80% complete, while safety-related change-of-scope work was 40% complete. Indore Khalghat has no comparable construction-progress figure in the report; its key operational event is the 30 September 2026 toll-plaza transfer.

OIT also reported separate maintenance programmes at Etawah Chakeri, Nagpur Bypass, Hungund Hospet, Nagpur Betul, Biaora Dewas and Rajiv Chowk. Indore Khalghat is the only project in the disclosed maintenance table where the stated purpose is specifically to meet divestment requirements.

What other toll-policy changes did OIT disclose?

NHAI introduced annual passes for eligible local users from 1 November 2026 at Rs 1,500 for toll plazas outside municipal or town limits and Rs 3,000 for those within such limits. The annual-pass option operates alongside the existing monthly pass of Rs 360 for local users within 20 kilometres of a toll plaza.

OIT said its current revenue from local passes was approximately Rs 42,000 per day, or around 0.1% of total toll revenue, and expected the overall financial effect of the revised arrangement to be negligible. NHAI had reimbursed project entities for compensation against annual-pass transactions through August 2026.

For four toll projects identified as ECP, HHP, NBP and BDP, traffic and toll-revenue reports were updated by traffic consultant Crisil and used in OIT's quarterly valuation. Indore Khalghat was not listed in that group in the operations report, while its concession was disclosed as having expired on 30 September 2026.

Conclusion

OIT's Indore Khalghat handover is a concession-expiry event rather than a traffic-driven change. Average daily traffic increased to 24,391 vehicles in Q2'27 from 22,865 in Q2'26, but NHAI took over the toll plaza at 3:00 pm on 30 September 2026 when the concession period ended.

The next disclosed milestone is 30 November 2026, the end of the extension for outstanding divestment requirements. The point to watch is whether the project entity completes the specified micro surfacing, bituminous concrete, painting and road-marking works within that timeline, as the extension is not described as restoring toll-plaza operations to OIT.