CAG pillories PPP model for Mumbai airport

Government auditor CAG today pilloried the public-private partnership (PPP) model for the Mumbai airport, saying risks had not been properly transferred to the private party as the project cost doubled and the funding gap was filled up by passengers through development fee.
It also took the Civil Aviation Ministry to task for granting extensions to the project, which was delayed by four years, and not penalising the private-led airport operator, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), for it.
"Examination in the audit indicated that risks had not been appropriately transferred to the concessionaire in the development of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai," a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, tabled in Parliament, said.

It said the project cost "more than doubled from Rs 5,826 crore to Rs 12,380 crore" but was restricted to Rs 11,647.46 crore till March this year by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
Though the project cost doubled, "the concessionaire did not appear to have faced financial vulnerability for the same, as the funding gap was being largely absorbed by the passengers through levy of development fee (DF), though such levy was not in the Operation, Management, Development Agreement (OMDA)," it said.
"No efforts were made to secure sources of financing for the project," it said.