Navi Mumbai okay boosts Jai, RIIL

Share prices of two companies associated with the Navi Mumbai airport project surged on announcement of the project’s approval.

The share price of Anand Jain’s Jai Corp was up 16.4 per cent at Rs 262 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd was up 7.4 per cent at Rs 817.8. Both had bid for developing the airport.

Apart from the airport, both have a plan to set up a couple of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) across 17,500 acres in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, build the 22-km Mumbai TransHarbour Link, develop a port at Rewas on the outskirts of the city and pitch for a couple of stretches of the Metro Rail. Jain also had plans for a power plant and a dam for the SEZs.

Jai Corp will have 10 percent interest in the Navi Mumbai SEZ and Rewas Port development, while the remaining 90 per cent will be with Reliance. The SEZ has been delayed as the companies were facing some problem in acquiring land in the district, Raigad. Though Jain does not own a single share, he acts as a strategic advisor to Reliance Industries Ltd for all stock market and real estate transactions.

In 2007, the market capitalisation of Jai Corp shot up from Rs 339 crore in to a stratospheric Rs 19,515 crore. In 2005, it was just Rs 96 crore, when the company was still weaving yarn and making galvanised steel bags used to pack cement and food grain. When Jai Corp moved to infrastructure projects, its market fortune also took a turn. The stock soared on the BSE, to reach new highs when the board announced a 1:1 bonus and a stock split of 1:10 in 2008.