MUMBAI
:
French concessions and construction company Vinci SA is nearing a $2 billion deal for Indian road assets owned by Australian asset manager Macquarie Group, paving the way for its return to the country after 11 years, two people aware of the matter told Mint.
Macquarie launched the sale of its highway assets housed under Safeway Concessions Pvt. in September 2025, seeking around $1.2 billion for the portfolio, which it acquired in India’s first toll-operate-transfer (ToT) auction in 2018 for ₹9,681 crore, or around $1.49 billion.
The race for the assets narrowed to three contenders over the subsequent months: Vinci’s concessions unit, Vinci Highways; IPO-bound EAAA India Alternatives Ltd’s Sekura Roads; and KKR’s Vertis Infrastructure Trust, as reported by The Economic Times in November 2025.
Vinci has emerged as the frontrunner for the deal that could fetch $2 billion for the assets of Safeway Concessions, one of the two persons cited above said, on the condition of anonymity.
The second person confirmed the development, adding that the deal may close in the coming weeks if both parties agree on certain terms.
The deal, once completed, is likely to see the transfer of nine toll road projects spanning 681 kilometres in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat to the French firm. The roads portfolio serves 38 million commuters each year and has over 1,700 employees.
For Vinci, this would mark the culmination of its attempts to return to India, after it exited the country in 2015 amid policy shifts in the road assets industry.
The company had originally sought to form a joint venture with BlackRock-backed infrastructure fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), but talks fell through, the first person said.
Vinci is likely to set up an India unit to house the road assets and avoid putting them into an infrastructure investment trust due to complex regulatory procedures, the second person added.
Mint‘s emailed queries to Vinci and Macquarie for comments remained unanswered.
Vinci Highways saw its annual revenue for the year ended December 2025 rise 11% on a like-for-like basis to €543 million. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) came up to €282 million, or 51.9% of revenue. The company also registered free cash flows of close to €90 million.
Investor interest
Vinci’s interest in India’s road assets is not an outlier.
Media reports suggest Macquarie is also seeking a stake in the Canadian institutional investor CDPQ-backed Maple Infrastructure Trust. KKR has been consolidating its road portfolio under Vertis, as it aims to build a platform large enough to rival Singapore-based Cube Highways. Cube, meanwhile, acquired two annuity road assets in Jammu & Kashmir in 2025.
Earlier in 2024, KKR-backed Highways Infrastructure Trust also signed definitive agreements to acquire a dozen road projects from PNC Infratech Ltd for ₹9,005 crore.
The interest in roads is driven by factors such as the availability of a large number of assets that allow large institutional investors, including pension and sovereign wealth funds, to flock in. Macquarie’s assets are also sweetened by the fact that they have a 30-year concession period.
Vinci’s India bet also comes at a time when India’s road monetization has a steady outlook.
Ratings agency Icra expects the sector to remain healthy in 2025-26. “The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has identified 24 assets across 12 states for monetization via ToT and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) modes. The identified 24 assets may garner ₹21,000-24,000 crore for the NHAI,” the agency said in a March 2025 report.
Icra also expects toll rate growth of around 2.5-3.9% in 2025-26, which, coupled with 3-5% traffic growth, is estimated to lead to 7-9% growth in toll collections.
“Moreover, the competitive intensity is expected to remain high, as developers will continue to bid aggressively to shore up their order books,” it noted.
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