Aera, airports spar over tariff calculation

New Delhi: India’s airport regulator wants operators of the facilities to exclude the value of land when calculating tariffs, which could lower costs for passengers and carriers. The airport operators are opposed to any such move.
GMR Infrastructure Ltd, which runs the Hyderabad and Delhi airports, and GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd, which runs the Mumbai and Bangalore airports, say the measure will reduce the return on their investments.
Yashwant Bhave, chairman of the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority, or Aera, and other officials of the watchdog body held a meeting with operators to discuss the matter in Delhi on 25 January.
The Aera proposal would make the Hyderabad and Delhi airport projects unviable, said Kiran Kumar Grandhi, managing director, Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd and Hyderabad International Airport Pvt. Ltd, according to the minutes of the meeting that were posted on the Aera website at the end of last week. “The authority’s approach regarding ring-fencing of land at market value may not be in consonance with the above position.”
Rajiv Jain, president, Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd, also said such a move “would lead to an uncertain position”, according to the minutes.
31/01/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Jan 2011