Will bid for Navi Mumbai airport, says GVK Infra

To also complete sale of land parcel in a week

GVK Infra, which operates Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), says it will bid for the Navi Mumbai international airport.

Recently, the Maharashtra government had called for a request for qualification to construct the much-delayed second airport here.

“We will certainly bid for the project. We already have the right of first refusal (RoFR) for the project; so, we have prize presence,” Issac George, chief financial officer of GVK Infra, said in an analyst conference call.

The project had been delayed for many years, as the state government couldn’t acquire the land required for the project. GVK, which already runs the domestic and international airports here, was given the RoFR, as it would lose some of its existing traffic. The company will be asked to match the bid of the highest bidder; only if it refuses to do so will the bid be passed to others.

George said the company might have to wait a little longer for the project, as it was expected the final bids would be out only in June.

Spread over 1,160 hectares, the Navi Mumbai airport will be one of the biggest airport projects seeking bids since modernisation projects for the airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were awarded in 2005.

The project is expected to be completed in four phases, at cost of Rs 14,574 crore. It will have two parallel, 3,700-m long runways.

Recently, GVK launched a new terminal at Mumbai international airport. The company also plans to commercialise eight acres of airport land.

“We have some bids…which we have evaluated. We are in negotiations with the individual parties. We should be able to finalise in a week or so,” said George. GVK has the right to monetise the land, as it had won the bid to develop the Mumbai airport.

The infrastructure company, present across sectors such as power and transportation, has consolidated debt of Rs 20,970 crore. It plans to reduce its debt by selling stake in the airports holding company. It owns and operates the airports in Mumbai and Bangalore. “We have already got two binding term sheets from two investors,” said George, without revealing the investors’ names, owing to confidential agreements. The investment and the extent of equity dilution were being discussed, he added.