New Delhi: The government may have to eat crow on the issue of Airport Development Fee (ADF) which was to be abolished by next month at Delhi and Mumbai International Airports. According to sources, instead of abolishing it completely, the civil aviation ministry may have to agree to lower the fee per person but extend the period of levy beyond 2014.
On 16 October, the ministry had directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to infuse more equity into Delhi and Mumbai airports, which operate on a Public Private Partnership model with a consortium of private developers owning majority equity in the ventures. The government wants AAI to bring in more equity and also the consortium led by GMR to pitch in so that the ADF is abolished for Delhi.
But while the AAI has agreed to infuse more equity, GMR has said it cannot bring in more funds since its lenders are not advancing more loans.
09/12/12 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post.in
