New Delhi: A comptroller and auditor general report on the Mumbai International Airport Ltd, tabled in Parliament on Friday, accused the private joint-venture partner of levying development fee of more than Rs 3,400 crore on passengers to fill up funding gaps, which was not part of the original agreement.
As per the initial agreement with Airports Authority of India and the private joint venture partner, the project cost of Rs 5,826 crore was to be financed entirely through equity, internal accruals and debt. However, the development fee levied on the passengers accounted for 29.19% of project funding while the equity stake of the private partners of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) at Rs 888 crore contributed a mere 7.6%.
The auditor has questioned the increase in the project cost from Rs 5,826 crore in 2006 to Rs 12,380 crore in 2011. The cost escalation was 68% in comparison to the original estimate. While the airport modernisation was to be completed by March 2010, the international airport was finally ready for operation only in January 2014. The domestic terminal is not yet ready and by the time it will be completed (2015), the airport will reach its design capacity of 40 million passengers per annum, CAG observed.
19/07/14 Pradeep Thakur/Times of India
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
As per the initial agreement with Airports Authority of India and the private joint venture partner, the project cost of Rs 5,826 crore was to be financed entirely through equity, internal accruals and debt. However, the development fee levied on the passengers accounted for 29.19% of project funding while the equity stake of the private partners of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) at Rs 888 crore contributed a mere 7.6%.
The auditor has questioned the increase in the project cost from Rs 5,826 crore in 2006 to Rs 12,380 crore in 2011. The cost escalation was 68% in comparison to the original estimate. While the airport modernisation was to be completed by March 2010, the international airport was finally ready for operation only in January 2014. The domestic terminal is not yet ready and by the time it will be completed (2015), the airport will reach its design capacity of 40 million passengers per annum, CAG observed.
19/07/14 Pradeep Thakur/Times of India
