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The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) will invest Rs 675 crore in GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited (GVIAL), a special purpose vehicle to develop and operate the Bhogapuram International Airport (BIA) in Andhra Pradesh.
The deal involves NIIF, a large investment platform anchored by the Government of India, making a primary investment in the form of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) which will be issued by GVIAL.
This is part of the financial partnership announced in December 2022 in which NIIF would invest in the equity capital of three airport projects of the GMR group.
Within India, GMR Group manages operations at three airports: Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mopa (Goa’s second airport). Additionally, the group operates two international airports abroad: Cebu in the Philippines and Medan in Indonesia.
This current investment marks NIIF's second foray into airport investments, following its participation in GMR Goa International Airport Limited, which was announced last December.
In the first phase, BIA will have the capacity of handling up to six million passengers annually. Its ultimate capacity will be 40 million passengers per year.
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In a statement, Vinod Giri, managing partner (Master Fund), said that the airport will strengthen the aviation infrastructure in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
“NIIF’s investment in GVIAL represents the Fund’s second airport project, underscoring our commitment to participate in the implementation of the Government of India’s ambitious National Infrastructure Pipeline,” he said.
“The new Bhogapuram airport and airport city will help in the transformation of Visakhapatnam and will place it on the global map as the most preferred investment destination. Our growing partnership with NIIF is a further testament of GMR’s credibility as an Airport Infrastructure developer and the future of the Aviation industry in the country,” said GBS Raju, Business Chairman (Airports), GMR Group.
The GMR Group is currently overseeing the expansion of the Delhi and Hyderabad airports, with the completion of the expansion work anticipated by March next year, according to GMR Airports Infrastructure’s annual report for 2022-23. Upon completion of the expansion, the Delhi airport will have the capacity to handle 100 million passengers per annum (MPPA), while the Hyderabad airport will be able to accommodate 34 MPPA.
