NHAI's logs of insurance surety bond issuance exceed ₹10,000 crore by improving infrastructure projects with effective alternatives to bank guarantees consumption.

The issuance of Insurance Surety Bonds (ISBs), launched as an alternative to bank guarantees, has touched the ₹10,000 crore mark, as per the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

As of July 2025, 12 insurance companies have issued approximately 1600 ISBs as 'Bid Security' and 207 as 'Performance Security,' resulting in approximately ₹10,369 crore in NHAI Contracts.

Insurance Surety bonds are insurance contracts in which insurance companies provide insurance guarantees, acting instead as 'surety,' underwritten by the obligations of the contractor. Unlike traditional bank guarantees, which require collateral, ISBs only require premium payments, making them more efficient. The Ministry of Finance had already rated e-Bank Guarantees and ISBs with Par of bank guarantees for government procurement.

First announced in the 2022 Union Budget, the insurance-backed mechanism underpins India's burgeoning infrastructure market, which is expected to grow at 6–8 percent a year. The emergence of India as the world's third-largest construction market ensures a significant demand for alternatives like ISBs.

To facilitate broader adoption of ISBs and e-Bank Guarantees, NHAI had a workshop in New Delhi, which was chaired by the Member (Finance) of NHAI, N.R.V.V.M.K. Rajendra Kumar, in association with top officials, insurance leaders and finance experts.