DIAL to submit costs report or forgo levy

Mumbai: Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has been told to submit a long-delayed review of its estimated cost for modernizing the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital by 15 April.
The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India, or Aera, said it would not allow DIAL to levy the airport development fee (ADF) on passengers from 1 August if it failed to meet the deadline.
An executive of GMR Group, which leads a consortium that owns DIAL, said they would submit the review of estimated cost by 6 April.
DIAL had estimated it would incur Rs8,975 crore for the modernization project. It also cited a funding gap of Rs1,827 crore, and was allowed to levy an ADF of Rs1,300 on every international passenger flying out of the city and Rs200 on every domestic passenger from 1 March 2009 to bridge the gap.
The ADF, which is inclusive of all taxes, was levied on an ad hoc basis for 36 months on the condition that DIAL would submit a review of the estimated cost by 31 August 2009. The deadline was later deferred to February 2010, but DIAL again failed to submit the estimates.
Aera has now put its foot down. “DIAL should submit the final project cost (estimates) at the earliest. In case, the submission is so delayed that the authority is not in a position to obtain final cost, duly audited by the independent technical auditor, latest by 31 July the levy of ADF shall not be permitted with effect from 1 August,” Aera chairman Yashwant S. Bhave said in a consultation paper.
24/03/10 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Mar 2010