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Dr. Zafar Khan, President, HIA and Executive Director & Joint CEO, Vertis Infrastructure Trust in conversation with MoRTH Secretary V. Umashankar

HIA Launches 'The Highway Dialogues'; A New Podcast Series to Shape the Conversation on India's Highway Future

Oct 21, 2026

BusinessWire India
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 21: The Highways Investor Association (HIA) has launched ‘The Highway Dialogues’, a new podcast series bringing together policymakers, investors, industry leaders and infrastructure experts to delve into the ideas, policies, investment frameworks and technologies shaping the future of India’s highway sector.
The series will feature perspectives from across the highway ecosystem, including senior government officials, industry leaders, global infrastructure investors, lenders, policymakers, academics and sector experts. Through these conversations, the series aims to provide retail and institutional investors with greater clarity on the evolving highway sector, its investment opportunities, risks and long-term growth drivers. By bringing together diverse perspectives on policy, financing, asset management, technology and sector trends, ‘The Highway Dialogues’ will help investors better understand the dynamics shaping highways as an investable asset class and make more informed investment decisions.
The inaugural episode, titled ‘The Highway Opportunity’, features Shri V. Umashankar, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), in conversation with Dr. Zafar Khan, President, HIA and Executive Director & Joint CEO, Vertis Infrastructure Trust. The episode explores India’s evolving highway ecosystem, including the role of technology in tolling, the emergence of highways as an investable asset class, the growth of asset monetisation and the importance of long-term asset management.
Speaking on the launch, Dr. Zafar Khan, President, HIA and Executive Director & Joint CEO, Vertis Infrastructure Trust, said, “India’s highway sector has come a long way, and the conversation today is no longer just about building roads. It is also about how we invest in, manage and sustain these assets over the long term. With The Highway Dialogues, we want to bring together the people who are shaping this journey and have open, meaningful conversations around the opportunities and challenges ahead. Most importantly, we want these conversations to be accessible to everyone who is interested in India’s infrastructure story.”
The series will take listeners through the key dimensions of India’s highway ecosystem. Beginning with the broader policy and investment opportunity, subsequent episodes will explore road safety and sustainability, concession and deal structures, financing, tolling and revenue models, construction quality and asset lifecycle management, highway operations, technology and data, risk management, and governance and accountability. Together, these conversations will offer investors and other stakeholders a holistic understanding of the factors influencing the performance, sustainability and long-term investment potential of India’s highway assets.
Link to channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaysInvestorAssociation

To View The Video, Click On The Link Below:
Why India's Highways Are the Next Big Infrastructure Opportunity
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