The Adani Group has moved an application proposal to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking approvals to take over Mumbai International Airport Ltd, said senior government officials.

One of the persons mentioned above said it was a straightforward transfer approval proposal. While the other person explaining the contours of the proposal said, “The Adani Group plans to offer the same fees as GVK did. It hasn’t asked for any concessions, and/ or demands.” In fact, Adani hasn’t even put in a request to change the name of the airport.

The airport is operated by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), a joint venture between the Airports Authority of India and the GVK Industries Ltd led consortium, which was appointed in February 2006 to carry out the modernisation of the Airport. “If (GVK) they sell their stake to someone else, the buyer needs approval from the AAI and MOCA.”

When GVK won the bid back then, it also needed an existing airport operator to win the bid. That is where Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) came into the picture. “Now, since the Adani Group’s airports arm has already entered into Public-Private Partnerships with AAI, and it already has experience in the airport sector, it doesn't need ACSA, hence, it has also signed a technical service operator contract,” one of the persons quoted above said.

After the complete share transfer of MIAL from GVK Airports Holding, Adani will be the largest stakeholder in MIAL. This conversion would see Adani Group getting the 50.5 per cent stake of GVK Group, and along with that, it will also acquire 23.5 per cent of minority partners, ACSA, and Bidvest Group. The remaining 26 per cent will stay with AAI.

The approval proposal has to be passed in one month. Meanwhile, in November, Adani Group is set to take over three PPP airports.

A detailed email did not receive a response from the Adani Group.

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