The government's announcement of national highway development project which includes development of the Golden Quadrangle connecting the four metros, has given an impetus to growth of the road sector involving an investment of over Rs 54,000 crore, he said.

Suresh said that Hudco, which is also involved in the Rs 27,000-crore six- lane Mumbai-Pune expressway project, is vying for other mega projects in the country.

"Even in the current financial year, the corporation's exposure in road and urban infrastructure projects would be near about Rs 1,500 crore," he said.The funds needed for the huge investment would be generated from a "basket of sources", he said.

Apart from internal accruals, Hudco would go for tax-free and taxable bonds besides private placements to raise the resources for the road sector next year.

Hudco would also consider the option of raising funds from multilateral lending agencies, he said. It has recently obtained $90 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with a grace period of five years at the Libor rate plus 40 basis points.

The other recipients of the ADB loan aggregating $200 million include ICICI Ltd ($80 million) and Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation ($30 million). Suresh said Hudco would be utilising the ADB loan in the solid waste management and road projects in major cities.

Regarding future projects, he said Hudco would be funding the multi-crore Worli-Bandra Sea-Link project, which is another upcoming mega urban infrastructure in the Mumbai metropolis. Apart from the mega projects in Maharashtra, the housing major is contemplating more road projects in other states as well.

"The corporation is funding infrastructure projects in practically all the states. Hudco would now go for feasible road sector projects, wherever the states like to build with private and state partnership," he said. The development financial major, in its Vision for 2002, has plans of sanctioning over Rs 14,700 crore with expected disbursements to the tune of Rs 12,500 crore. Hudco's Vision 2002 also envisages expansion of its lending business to housing and urban infrastructure through expanded avenues including retail financing.