GMR Infrastructure has raised around INR 520 crore of debt from India Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd for modernising Delhi Intetrnational Airport. Sources said the company, based in this city, raised a total of around INR 2,600 crore to fund the modernisation plan, including the debt from IIFCL.

Delhi International Airport Ltd is a joint venture consortium of the GMR Group, with majority holding of 54%, Airports Authority of India with 26% and Frankfurt airport operator Frafort AG and Eraman Malaysia with 10 per cent each. While GMR is the lead member of the consortium, Fraport AG is the airport operator in this project.

The project, being developed under a public-private partnership model, has an initial concession period of 30 years, extendable by another 30 years. Since bagging the contract in 2006, DIAL has upgraded the existing terminal, along with commissioning of a new runway in 2008.

Recently, DIAL completed the first phase of the new terminal, with a capacity to handle 60 million passengers per annum. GMR has another three airports: GMR Hyderabad International Airport, Istanbul airport and Male International airport in its portfolio.

The airport division has shown significant traction in business growth in the third quarter of the current financial year. Revenue had witnessed a 66 per cent rise to INR 626.4 crore with an 18% increase in operating profit during this period. Overall contribution of the airport division has also risen to 46% of total revenue in this period as compared with 35% a year earlier.

(Sourced from BS)