SPV formed for Dholera airport

The Gujarat state cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the Dholera international airport. The SPV will be named as Dholera International Airport Company Limited (DIACL), the state government said.

Stating that the Dholera is set to witness a special investment region (SIR) in near future, Jaynarayan Vyas, spokesperson for Government of Gujarat said that the region is being developed as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) as well as the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC).

"In this regard, Dholera will see domestic and international investments flowing in the region. Dholera, hence, deserves an advanced airport in the region. The international airport will be developed as a green field airport," said Vyas.

Vyas added that the defence ministry has granted a no objection and site clearance certificate for the Dholera International Airport. In order to expedite the process of setting up a greenfield international airport in Dholera, the cabinet on Wednesday approved formation of an SPV under the Companies Act, alongwith board of directors and its capital structure. The SPV will hence look into public private partnership (PPP), apart from implementation of master plan, land acquisition, and infrastructure, among other things.

While initially the SPV will be owned by Gujarat government, entities like the central government, Airport Authority of India (AAI), and DMIC Development Company, among others are expected to hold stake in DIACL, Vyas added.