Morgan Stanley arm in JV with Spanish developer to undertake road projects in India

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, a dedicated infrastructure investment arm of Morgan Stanley, today said that its $4-billion global infrastructure fund, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP), will invest up to $200 million in a joint venture with Spainb's Isolux Corsán Concesiones to fund highway projects in India.

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and Isolux Corsán Concesiones, a subsidiary of Spanish infrastructure engineering company Grupo Isolux will each invest $200 million in the setting up a joint venture, making the combined investment among the largest foreign investments in the transport infrastructure segment to date.

The funds will be used to build three highway projects awarded to Isolux Corsán Concesiones under long-term concession agreements on build-operate-transfer model for the National Highways Authority of India.
 
The three projects, which cover over 400 km, are estimated to cost over $1.6 billion and have already received debt financing from financial institutions and equity investment from Isolux Corsán, the companies said in a statement.

The projects are expansions of existing roads, and will link major cities, industrial hubs, as well as ports and tourist attractions. In addition to these three projects, Isolux Corsán has qualified to bid on several new NHAI projects.

The road development program being undertaken by the NHAI under a public-private-partnership model is among the largest PPP programs in the world today. NHAI's National Highway Development Program was initiated in 1999 and is estimated to total $ 50 billion when completed.

India has witnessed double-digit growth in vehicle registrations over the past 10 years, according to Euromonitor, and Morgan Stanley Research identifies it as the second-fastest growing auto market in the world.