YEIDA to issue bonds worth ₹10,000 crore to fund the construction of freight corridors

To fund important connectivity projects, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority plans to issue infrastructure bonds of ₹10,000 crore. In addition to other multi-modal connectivity projects intended to smoothly integrate the area with Delhi, Gurgaon, and other nearby regions, the funds will support a 72-kilometer rapid rail line from Ghaziabad to Jewar, an offshoot of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor, and a rail link between Chola and Rundhi that connects the eastern and western freight corridors.

An estimated ₹23,000 crore is needed for the projects. YEIDA plans to foot the remaining ₹13,000 crore on its own. CEO Arun Vir Singh said YEIDA received a BBB+ rating for its infra bonds. ‘This gives us the green light to go ahead with our fundraising efforts. The aim is to raise ₹10,000 crore with a 10-year bond. The entire amount will be used for connectivity projects linked to the airport,’ he said. The credit rating scale typically runs from ‘AAA’—the highest—to ‘D’, which signals default.

A BBB+ rating places YEIDA in the ‘moderate safety’ zone, which gives confidence to many institutional investors. The better the rating, the lower the interest rate one can attract on bonds. Infrastructure bonds are debt instruments issued by govts or agencies to raise capital specifically for public infrastructure projects. Similar models are already in use by industrial authorities in Hyderabad and Pune. To advance the plan, YEIDA has reached out to 12 govt-empanelled transaction advisors.

YEIDA’s push for infrastructure funding comes on the back of several financial commitments. UP govt has extended an interest-free loan of ₹3,000 crore for land acquisition, and a separate funding arrangement has been signed with HUDCO. However, officials emphasise that much more capital is needed, especially with the international airport driving a surge in multi-modal transport demands. These include new routes to link the area with major national railway lines, high-speed rail, metro networks, and personal rapid transit systems. YEIDA already has over ₹1,000 crore in reserve and has set up a dedicated debt service reserve account (DSRA), where six months’ worth of interest payments are kept in advance to ensure timely servicing of debt.