New Delhi, Feb. 24 -- Vertis Infrastructure Trust, an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) backed by global investment firm KKR and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, plans to double its assets under management (AUM) to about Rs.52,000 crore over the next two years, driven by steady secondary acquisitions of operational highway projects worth Rs.5,000-6,000 crore annually, joint chief executive officer Zafar Khan said in an interview. The roads-focused InvIT, which currently manages assets worth around Rs.26,000 crore, expects to add a mix of hybrid annuity model (HAM) and toll projects to maintain a balanced portfolio and enhance investor returns. "We are not satisfied with Rs.26,000-27,000 crore. We are looking at doubling our AUM in the next two years. For that, we will continue to add Rs.5,000-6,000 crore of assets every year," Khan said. Secondary market key to growth Unlike some peers that rely heavily on toll-operate-transfer (TOT) bundles from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Vertis has built much of its portfolio through secondary acquisitions from developers. "We have only one ToT asset. Most of our growth has come from the secondary market, and that pipeline is still active," Khan said. The InvIT is in advanced stages of completing the acquisition of HAM projects from PNC Infratech. Of the 10 projects in the transaction, nine have already been taken over, while the tenth is expected to be completed later this month after achieving commercial operations date (COD). "With this, 100% takeover of the PNC portfolio will be complete," he said. Vertis is also among the bidders for another secondary HAM portfolio currently on the block, and expects final bids to be submitted soon. In addition, it plans to target at least one or two TOT bundles if pricing and project specifics are attractive. Overall, Khan said the InvIT aims to add assets worth Rs.5,000-10,000 crore over the next couple of years, though it is conservatively budgeting Rs.5,000-6,000 crore annually. The expansion push comes amid robust traffic growth across national highway corridors. According to Khan, average traffic growth across operational corridors has exceeded 5% over the past year, aided by economic activity and network expansion. On newer access-controlled corridors, traffic growth has been even stronger, at 10-15%....