The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has asked the finance ministry to be allowed to float Rs 3,000 crore of tax-free infrastructure bonds, a fund-raising window opened in the recent Union Budget.
“We have asked the finance ministry to allocate us Rs 3,000 crore from the Rs 10,000-crore issue that has not been allocated to an authority. We have written a letter,” said a top AAI official, who did not want to be identified.
Allowing AAI, he said, to raise Rs 3,000 crore through bonds would help the authority raise cheaper loans. “Fund raising through bonds brings down the interest rate on our borrowings by around two percentage points,” the official added.
In the Budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allowed companies to raise Rs 60,000 crore through tax-free infra bonds. AAI was not allotted any amount. National Highways Authority of India, Indian Railway Finance Corporation and India Infrastructure Finance Company can raise Rs 10,000 crore each. National Housing Bank, Housing and Urban Development Corporation and the Small Industries Development Bank of India have permission to raise Rs 5,000 crore each. The ports sector can raise Rs 10,000 crore.
AAI’s earlier requests to raise cash through bonds were turned down on the plea that buyers for these were limited and allowing AAI to access the route would affect the plans of other government agencies. The earlier AAI proposals were for raising Rs 5,000 crore.
24/03/12 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard
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