GVK to spend 8,500 cr on Navi Mumbai airport

Hyderabad: The GVK group, which is in the process of developing Navi Mumbai International Airport, will be spending Rs 8,500 crore in the first phase to cater to 10 million (1 crore) passengers per annum, Chairman of the infra major G V K Reddy said here on Wednesday.

The airport is a public-private partnership venture in which the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport has a 74 per cent stake with CIDCO, the Maharashtra government's nodal agency for the project, holding the remaining 26 per cent.

The greenfield international airport will be built on 1,160 hectares in phases and eventually cater to 60 million passengers per year. "In the first phase, it is going to be about Rs 8,500 crore. It goes in phases. It will be 10 million passengers (in the first phase).

Maybe by spending another Rs 2,500 crore or Rs 3000 crore, another 20 million can go ahead. The project is on track and going on well," Reddy told shareholders at the Annual General Meeting of GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited (GVKPIL).

The concession agreement for Navi Mumbai International Airport was signed on January 8, 2018 between Navi Mumbai International Airport and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). GVK, which currently manages the Mumbai International Airport through its subsidiary GVK Airport Developers, said Yes Bank would be the lead bank and mandate lead arranger for phase I and phase II of the Navi Mumbai airport project.

The initial concession period is 30 years from the appointed date which is extendable for a further 10 years. Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd proposed and submitted master plan to CIDCO and also provided performance security as per the terms of concession agreement.

The company has arranged its debt funding requirements for the phase-I of NIMIAL project from Yes Bank Limited and is in the process of finalising the financing and security documents.

Ninety-four per cent of land development works have been completed as on April 30, 2019 and about 85 per cent of structures at the site have been demolished and vacated by CIDCO, Reddy said.

Replying to another query, he said the group is determined to acquire the 13.5 per cent in Mumbai International Airport Limited owned by South African firm Bid Services Division Mauritius or Bidvest.

Other shareholders are ACSA Global (Airports Company of South Africa) which owns 10 per cent, Airports Authority of India (26 per cent) and GVK Airport Holdings, which is the majority owner with a 50.5 per cent ownership in the company that runs the country's second busiest airport. GVK has already announced its intention to acquire ASCA Globals 10 per cent stake.