India-based conglomerate GVK has won its bid to develop a new airport on the outskirts of Mumbai.
The Navi Mumbai airport was first proposed in 1997 and was approved by the government in 2007. It is expected to be operational from 2019, aiming to ease congestion and cater to the surge in demand for air travel to and from the city.
GVK, which currently operates Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), outbid competitor GMR Infrastructure to secure the contract for the Rs160bn (US$2.4bn) new build.
State-owned planning agency CIDCO bid out the project, which had to be deferred twice and its terms changed after it initially attracted only one bidder – GVK.
“We remain committed toward creating, designing and managing yet another state-of-the-art airport, and deliver a world class gateway from Navi Mumbai to the world,” said GVK Reddy, chairman and managing director of GVK.
“We look forward to working with the government, CIDCO and all other stakeholders for the successful implementation of this exciting and challenging project.
The project will be carried out through public private partnership with CIDCO financing the pre-development work, which will be treated as a loan to the project developer. One of the terms changed for the final bidding application boosted the repayment period of the soft loan from 11 years to 15 years.
It is predicted the new airport will handle 10 million passengers annually when its first phase starts operation in 2019, rising to 60 million per year upon completion in 2030.
Story by Kirstie Pickering
