Infra Investments Are Increasingly Favouring Roads, Renewable Assets: Equirus
India’s infrastructure investment landscape is increasingly favouring operational road and renewable energy assets as investors seek stable cash flows amid slowing highway construction and rising energy-transition spending, according to a report by Equirus.Private equity and mergers and acquisitions activity in the infrastructure sector remained dominated by renewables and transport assets over the past two fiscal years, the report showed, with several billion-dollar transactions reshaping the market.
Among the largest recent deals, JSW Energy acquired KSK Mahanadi Power Company for USD 1.86 billion in March 2025, while ONGC NTPC Green Pvt Ltd bought Ayana Renewable Power for USD 2.3 billion in February 2025.
Road assets also continued attracting global infrastructure investors. In April 2026, Vinci Highways agreed to acquire Safeway Concessions for about USD 1.7 billion, while Actis Group acquired road projects, including Calicut Expressway Pvt Ltd and Vindhyachal Expressway Pvt Ltd.
Equirus said operational highway assets under hybrid annuity and toll-operate-transfer models were increasingly drawing investor interest because they provide predictable returns and lower execution risks compared with greenfield construction projects.
The report comes as India’s highway construction sector faces slowing activity. Highway construction and new project awards fell to a seven-year low in 2025-26, with less than 10,000 km of highways built and only around 7,000 km of new projects awarded during the year, according to data cited in the report.
At the same time, toll collections rose 14 per cent year-on-year to a record Rs 82,900 crore in FY26, helped by an expanding toll-road network and higher FASTag usage. India’s tolled road network more than doubled to 55,812 km by November 2025 from 26,067 km in FY19.
The report said these trends were encouraging developers to monetise mature road assets and recycle capital into new businesses or reduce debt.
In renewables, investment momentum remained strong despite infrastructure bottlenecks. India added 50 GW of solar capacity in just 14 months and is expected to become the world’s second-largest solar market in 2026, according to the National Solar Energy Federation of India, cited in the report.
However, transmission infrastructure is emerging as a major challenge. Rajasthan alone has about 60 GW of renewable energy projects awaiting transmission connectivity, the report noted, highlighting the strain on India’s grid expansion plans.
Equirus also flagged structural issues in India’s natural gas ecosystem, describing gas as “the missing middle” in the country’s energy transition. Gas accounts for only around 7 per cent of India’s energy mix compared with roughly 24 per cent globally, constrained by limited pipelines, LNG infrastructure and long-term supply contracts.
The report said India’s gas demand could nearly quadruple by FY40, intensifying pressure on supply chains and infrastructure capacity.
Capital markets activity in infrastructure also remained robust. Infrastructure-related IPOs, qualified institutional placements and InvIT issuances continued through FY26, including Rs 60,000 million raised by Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust and Rs 30,799 million by Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions.
Equirus said renewables, InvITs and engineering-procurement-construction businesses accounted for the largest share of infrastructure capital market fundraising between 2020 and 2025.
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