CRISIL Research estimates that the first 75 operational highway projects tendered under the toll-operate-toll (TOT) model may fetch around Rs 40,000 crore, much lower than what the government had initially estimated.

Collections in securitised pools of vehicle loan receivables rated by CRISIL saw a V-shaped recovery in January 2017 collections (payouts made in February 2017), rebounding to ~95 per cent from ~85 per cent in November, and virtually shrugging off demonetisation. On the other hand, pools backed by microfinance (MFI) receivables are under stress and being closely monitored, while those backed by home loans have remained unaffected.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) can help raise close to Rs 50,000 crore in the near-term, given certain players’ interest in the infra and real estate space, according to a report.

Various reforms initiated by the government to ensure speedy approvals and clearances aided the pace of construction of roads, which improved 40 per cent

Various reforms initiated by the government to ensure speedy approvals and clearances aided the pace of construction of roads, which improved 40 per cent from an average 4.3 km per day in FY2014-15 to 6 km in FY2015-16 and is likely to reach 11 km by FY2018, says Crisil.

We need to improve our infrastructure, and if someone asked, by when, the obvious answer will be yesterday! According to a study by S&P Global Ratings, the country´s poor infrastructure is the biggest hurdle to the government´s ´Make in India´ programme, and they went on to add that the infrastructure deficit is costing the nation up to 5 per cent of our GDP.

After liberalisation, the government´s primary focus was on reducing the fiscal deficit to restore macroeconomic stability, reforming trade and exchange rate policies and liberalising foreign investment policy. Infrastructure was never a growth constraint in the short term, considering the low utilisation of the existing infrastructure then.

With more leeway to fund projects and tax exemptions, L&T Infra Debt Fund (IDF), L&T Finance group's infrastructure refinancing arm, plans to raise up to Rs.2,750 crore through debentures.

Clearly, the government had saved the best for the last, with a flurry of policy decisions at the year end. Infrastructure is clearly in for better times in 2016. The year 2015 was generally a positive one for the economy, although bumpy.