GMR Gets 30 Year Extension To Operate Hyderabad Airport Till 2068

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), a step-down subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited (GIL), has received a letter of confirmation from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) extending the term of the Concession Agreement for operating Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad for a further period of 30 years.

The union government has extended the concession agreement period until 22 March 2068 from 23 March 2038. This extension is in terms of the Concession Agreement dated 20 December 2004.

GHIAL is a company promoted as a joint venture comprising the GMR Group (63 per cent) in partnership with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) (13 per cent), the Government of Telangana (13 per cent) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11 per cent).

RGIA at Hyderabad, India's first greenfield airport built under a public-private partnership model, was commissioned in 31 months and inaugurated in March 2008. The initial capacity of the airport was 12 million passengers per annum (MPPA), which went up to 21 MPPA in 2019.

The airport presently is undergoing a major expansion, post which the capacity will get enhanced to 34 MPPA.

Also, the airport has 1,50,000 tons of cargo handling capacity per annum, and the airport master plan has the flexibility to increase the ultimate capacity to over 100 MPPA in phases.

"Hyderabad Airport is now at the forefront of leveraging technology to deliver a seamless and enhanced experience to the travellers. It is the first airport in India to introduce a unique e-boarding solution and the only airport in the country to have an end-to-end digital passenger processing system," GHIAL said.

GMR Group entered the airports space in the early 2000s, and presently it owns and operates Delhi International Airport and Hyderabad International Airport.

Further, the company is developing a greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa and an international greenfield airport at Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. It has also signed a concession agreement with the Government of Karnataka to commission, operationalize and maintain the Civilian Enclave at the Bidar Airport in North Karnataka.

Apart from being one of India's largest private airport companies, GMR Group is also the only Indian airport developer to have developed and operated airports outside India.

Presently, GMR Infrastructure, in partnership with Megawide Construction Corporation of the Philippines, is operating and developing Mactan Cebu International Airport – the second largest airport in the Philippines.

The group has also been selected to develop, operate and manage the new international Kastelli airport, also known as Crete airport, in Heraklion, Greece, with a joint venture partner, Terna S.A., a Greek infrastructure company.