GVK-led consortium to invest Rs 5,800 cr for upgrade of CSIA in 7yrs

Mumbai, June 14 (UNI) Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) will invest up to Rs 5,800 crore in the next seven years for modernisation and upgrading of facilities at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport(CSIA) to meet the increased demand for travel in the country.

The CSIA is joint venture company between the GVK-SA Consortium and the Airports Authority of India(AAI) with the former holding 74 per cent stake and the latter with the remaining 26 per cent. The consortium comprises of GVK, Airports Company South Africa Ltd(ACSA) and Bidvest Group Limited.

Briefing newspersons here today, GVK's Managing Director G V Sanjay Reddy said the investment will cover three phases of development. In the first phase, the airport will upgrade cargo facilities and passenger and aircraft amenities without elaborating on the other phases.

Mumbai Airport is also considering a parallel runway, Mr Reddy said while elaborating that the company is also aiming to build one new terminal building in the airport for low-fare airlines.

Currently, the Mumbai airport facilitates 500 landings and takeoffs daily and is used by as many as 50,000 passengers, which is about 37 percent of India's traffic, the company's statement said.

After the completion of modernisation and upgradation of Mumbai airport, it will be able to handle about 40 million passengers per year as against the existing 22 million passengers per year, Mr Reddy said responding to a query.

When asked about details on debt-equity component, Mr Reddy said details will be divulged in about six months time by which time, the company would have firmed up plans and achieved financial closure for the project.

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