The Union finance ministry on Tuesday announced the second pipeline of infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, comprising 852 projects with a combined estimated cost exceeding ₹17 trillion. Highways account for the largest share of the proposed investments.
The announcement follows the Union Budget FY26 proposal to roll out a three-year project pipeline to accelerate infrastructure development through PPPs. The initiative is aimed at providing early visibility of upcoming projects to investors, developers and other stakeholders, enabling better planning and investment decisions.
The project pipeline spans multiple sectors, including energy, transportation and logistics, social and commercial infrastructure, as well as water and sanitation.
The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) will anchor the bulk of projects, with 108 highway-related projects estimated to cost over ₹8.76 trillion. Other major contributors include the power sector with 46 projects worth ₹3.40 trillion, water resources and river development with 29 projects costing ₹12,253 crore, and shipping and waterways with 22 projects valued at ₹37,644 crore.
Under the three-year National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) 2.0, the Centre is expected to drive most of the PPP investments. Of the ₹17 trillion targeted, central ministries and departments will account for around ₹13 trillion, while states and Union territories are expected to contribute the remaining ₹4 trillion.
A significant portion of PPP activity is likely to come from road and highway projects awarded through the build-operate-transfer (BoT) model. The government also plans to expand access-controlled highways to create a high-speed golden quadrilateral of expressways.
Other sectors are also expected to see increased PPP participation. Railways may attract private investment in high-speed rail networks, freight corridors and train manufacturing. Ports and shipping projects are likely to focus on shipbuilding clusters, ship repair facilities, greenfield mega ports, and the modernisation of existing ports.
The new NIP 2.0 builds on NIP 1.0, launched in 2019, which targeted infrastructure investments of over ₹100 trillion by FY25. As of March 2025, NIP 1.0 covered around 13,000 projects with a total cost of ₹185 trillion, with nearly half concentrated in the transport sector.
