What’s new

• NHAI issued a circular superseding its earlier proposal to cut the WPI linking factor from 1.641 to 1.561.
• The Delhi High Court had kept the earlier circular in abeyance since October 2025.
• The restoration removes a key regulatory uncertainty on toll revenue growth for Interise Trust's highway projects.

Why it matters

For a nano-cap InvIT like Interise Trust, the WPI linking factor directly determines toll escalation rates. Restoring the higher factor ensures stronger revenue growth, which feeds into distributable cash flows for unitholders. The resolution of this overhang removes a major source of risk that had been hanging over the trust's valuation.

What we’re watching

• Whether similar NHAI clarity emerges for other road assets under the trust.
• Traffic volume trends to gauge actual revenue uplift from the higher factor.
• Any further legal challenges to the circular from road user groups.

The full read

NHAI has reversed its proposal to lower the WPI linking factor for toll revisions, restoring the original multiple of 1.641. The earlier circular, which had sought to reduce it to 1.561, was kept in abeyance by the Delhi High Court last October. The new circular, dated July 8, 2026, makes the restoration permanent for all contracts. For Interise Trust, a nano-cap InvIT with highway assets, this is a direct positive — toll escalation drives revenue, and a higher factor locks in stronger growth. The uncertainty that had clouded distributable cash flows is gone. The next move is traffic volume, but the regulatory overhang has been lifted.

Primary source: BSE · NSE