As per a new report, the Adani Group may be considering the acquisition of a 74 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL). It is said that this will be undertaken at a cost of ₹15,000 crores.
A report published by Business Standard mentions that Adani Group could purchase 50.5 per cent of GVK Group’s stake in MIAL while the rest of the 23.5% will be acquired via minority partners of MIAL, namely Bidvest (13.5 per cent), and Airports Company of South Africa (10 per cent). Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) controls 26 per cent of MIAL.
MIAL currently operates the Mumbai International Airport, while it will also look after the Navi Mumbai Airport which is expected to be fully operational by 2023 as per recent estimates.
Read - ED Raids GVK Group Offices In Connection To The Mumbai Airport Scam
“There was immense pressure from the lenders on GVK Group, as there were upcoming debt payment schedules of MIAL. The banks were particularly concerned. They felt the parent firm's poor liquidity position — worsening with the effect of COVID-19 on airport business — would make it difficult to repay. The transaction is a positive for everyone,” a banker was quoted as saying by the Business Standard.
If this deal goes through as the report states, Adani will officially become the largest private airport operator in India followed by the GMR Group which manages the Delhi and Hyderabad airports.
Separately, the Central Government has granted Adani Enterprises requisite permissions to run airports at Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangaluru, and Thiruvananthapuram under the public-private partnership or PPP structure.
Also read - CBI Probes 7 Contractors In Mumbai International Airport Fraud Case
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