GMR plans "village" at Hyd Intl airport

The GMR Group, which is developing the greenfield international airport at Hyderabad, is looking at garnering non-aero revenues through the "airport village" it plans to develop in 1,000 acres within the airport premises.

"We expect the revenue stream to shift in favour of non-aero revenues in 60:40 ratio by 2014 at the Hyderabad International Airport," Madhu Terdal, CFO (corporate) of GMR Group, said.

According to him, the company is open to the modalities for the development of the airport village, which is part of the 5,400 acre land given to the GMR-led consortium for the construction of the airport. "We may float a separate company or form a joint venture or may even lease out the land for construction of different projects," he said.

According to T Srinagesh, chief operating officer of Hyderabad International Airport (HIAL), the airport village will consist of all commercial and retail activities including business hotels and shopping malls. "The entire airport will be designed in such a way that even families other than the passengers can visit the place," Srinagesh added.

The Rs 1,760 crore airport project, which is designed to handle seven million passengers from the first year of operations, is expected to handle about 6.5 million passengers in 2008-09 based on the average 30% growth in passenger arrivals at Hyderabad.