Highway Infrastructure IPO: Everything You Need to Know

Opening Date: August 5, 2025
Closing Date: August 7, 2025
Allotment Date: Likely August 8, 2025
Listing Date: August 12, 2025 on NSE SME and BSE SME platforms (Zerodha, Moneycontrol)
Price Band: ₹65–70 per share (Business Standard)
Lot Size: 211 shares
Minimum Fund Required (Retail): ₹14,770 at ₹70/share (211 × ₹70) (Moneycontrol)
Maximum Retail Cap: Up to 13 lots → 2,743 shares → ₹192,010 (Moneycontrol)
Total Fund Raise: ₹130 crore (₹97.52 cr fresh issue + ₹32.48 cr offer-for-sale) (mint)

About the Company

Highway Infrastructure Ltd is an Indore‑based infrastructure development and tollway management firm, founded in 1995 and restructured in 2018 (Zerodha, mint). Over nearly three decades, it has carved a niche in the toll‑collection and EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) sectors, executing infrastructure projects across states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi.

Key Management

The IPO filings indicate promoters Arun Kumar Jain and Anoop Agrawal, along with several institutional investors via anchor allotment (e.g. VPK Global Ventures, HDFC Bank, Sunrise Investment), backing the offering with credibility (mint).

Major Products / Services

Toll Collection Operations: Utilizes ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems, contributing ~77% of revenue
EPC Infrastructure Projects: Includes roads, bridges, civil buildings, irrigation works (≈21% of revenue)
Real Estate Development: A small portfolio (≈1.6% of revenue) (mint)

Financials & Performance

Order Book (as of May 31, 2025): ₹666.3 crore (~₹595 million from toll operations; ₹6,068 million from EPC projects) (mint)
Revenue (FY23–FY25 CAGR): ~₹495.7 crore; grew at 4.36% CAGR
Profit: ₹22.4 crore in FY25; CAGR of 27.4% over FY23–25
Debt‑Equity: Operating leverage has improved; D/E stands around 0.6× in FY25
Margins: EBITDA margin modest at ~6–7% compared to larger peers (mint, mint)

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Competitors

Peer comparisons include larger infrastructure outfits such as:

IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, which handles BOT highway projects and INVITs
Dilip Buildcon, known for EPC contracts in highways, bridges, and tunnels
Reliance Infrastructure, with diversified infrastructure operations (Wikipedia, Wikipedia)

Conclusion

Highway Infrastructure Ltd offers strong growth potential in the infrastructure and toll‑management space. The IPO is attractively priced at ₹65–70/share. With solid fundamentals—a healthy order book, growing profits, tailwinds in India’s infrastructure—and a grey market premium signaling potential for listing gains, it warrants attention.

However, its valuation is on the higher side (~22–30× FY25 P/E), especially considering thin margins and smaller scale relative to larger peers (mint).

Recommendation: Should You Apply?

For Listing Gain‑Focused Investors:

Grey Market Premium (GMP) currently stands between ₹40–₹41 over the upper band → suggesting ~57% expected listing pop (IPO at ₹70 → GMP ≈ ₹110) (The Financial Express).
Given strong Day‑1 subscription (3–7× overall, retail segment ~10×), early gains seem realistic (The Economic Times).

For Long‑Term Investors:

Analysts like Anand Rathi recommend a “Subscribe – Long Term” strategy, given solid infrastructure demand and execution focus, though they acknowledge valuation is full (mint).
Returns beyond listing are contingent on improvement in margins and scale.

Risks to Consider:

Smaller scale versus larger peers
Modest margins (~6–7%)
Valuation sensitive to IPO pricing and delivery performance

Final Take:

If you aim for short‑term listing gains and can tolerate risk: applying up to the upper price band (₹70) with full retail allocation is reasonable.
If you seek long-term quality exposure, diversify across larger infrastructure names with more stable margins. Highway Infrastructure can complement such a portfolio, but expect slower long-term gains.