Indian transportation infrastructure trust, Citius Transnet, has raised INR 4.97bn (USD 53.5m) from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering, according to an exchange filing.

The diversified group comprises pensions and provident funds – SBI Pension, HDFC Pension, Larsen & Toubro Provident Fund, ICICI Prudential Pension and DSP Pension – as well as insurers. This includes Bharti AXA, Bajaj Life, Axis Max Life and IndusInd General.

Mutual funds investing in equity, hybrid and multi-asset schemes – DSP, WhiteOak, Axis Mutual Fund and Quant – were also part of the book.

Citius, sponsored by Epic TransNet Infrastructure, is owned by funds managed by Mumbai-based EAAA India Alternatives, an arm of financial services group Edelweiss.

The IPO opened today (17 April) and will close on 21 April, with gross proceeds estimated to be INR 11bn. The minimum lot size is 150 equity shares and multiples of 150 shares thereafter.

Axis Capital, Ambit Private Limited and ICICI Securities are the book running lead managers, and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas is the legal counsel to Citius TransNet InvIT.

Citius will initially hold 10 highway assets, spread across geographically diverse clusters in nine states. It also has a right of first refusal on 11 more concessions – some of which have been acquired by its parent company – with the remaining awaiting final regulatory approvals, according to a source familiar. Once transferred to Citius, the portfolio will expand to 21 assets totalling about 5,773 lane‑km across 12 states.

EAAA India Alternatives manages more than USD 7bn, spread across performing and special situations credit, infrastructure, commercial real estate, energy transition, and investment trusts.

Infralogic reported last year that road infrastructure trusts with a combined enterprise value of more than USD 12bn were preparing for public listings in an attempt to expand capital-raising options amid increased interest from domestic investors.

The first infrastructure trust to be established in India was for highway assets by IRB Infrastructure Developers in 2017. The list of transportation-focused investment vehicles has expanded to more than a dozen, accounting for more than half the infrastructure trusts registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Foreign investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, Cube Highways and Infrastructure, CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, KKR, International Finance Corporation and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have all invested in Indian roads trusts.