Dial may delay payment for metro rail link

New Delhi: The GMR group-led consortium that manages New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has approached the civil aviation ministry seeking more time to pay Rs 448 crore to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for constructing a metro rail corridor linking airport terminals to the city centre.
The group had agreed to pay 10% of the cost of building the 23-km metro rail link.
Delhi International Airport (DIAL) expects a significant shortfall in realisation from the proposed hospitality project and wants the payment to be rescheduled, said an official, requesting anonymity.
The deferred payment may delay one of the most prestigious metro rail projects which is scheduled to be commercially operational ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
DIAL wants to postpone the first instalment to September 2009 against the original schedule of April. In addition to discussing the issue with the civil aviation and urban development ministries, DIAL plans to approach DMRC directly for a mutual agreement.
A DIAL spokesperson said that DMRC had agreed to a two-month extension against the request for postponing the payment by six months. “The extension was sought on account of delay in raising funds for the airport project,” he added.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group-owned Delhi Airport Metro Express, a special purpose vehicle floated by Reliance Infrastructure, is building the Rs 4,000-crore project. The company recently completed financial closure raising Rs 2,500 crore as part-funding for the project.
04/05/09 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports May 2009