Mial eyes higher passenger levy beyond March 2013

New Delhi: Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (Mial) has asked the airports regulator to extend a levy on passengers beyond March 2013 to fund the modernization of the country’s second largest airport.
The regulator has asked Airports Authority of India to conduct a financial and technical audit of the project by appointing an independent consultant, said a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named. The operator is seeking to raise funds from passengers as it hasn’t been able to garner funds by developing Mumbai airport land, which houses the nation’s biggest slum, to fund the modernization project.
Mial needs to raise Rs.2,826 crore more to fund the Rs.9,800-crore project. It has tied up the rest of the funds by borrowing Rs.4,231 crore, charging an airport development fee amounting to Rs.1,543 crore and equity infusion of Rs.1,200 crore.
In October, Mial’s slum rehabilitation contract awarded to Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd to clear 276 acres of slum area is likely to be completed and the airport operator said it has prepared a strategy to get funds from land lease to hotels and other avenues.
“Unlike in the case of Delhi, the land prices in Mumbai are not comparable,” said the first official. “That should constitute a significant portion. All this will need to be examined.”
A Mial spokesman declined comments for the story.
The New Delhi airport operator, GMR Infrastructure Ltd -led Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd, had secured about Rs.1,400 crore from lease of 45 acres land to hotels for the $3 billion (Rs.13,500 crore today) project.
24/03/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Mar 2011