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Fairfax, which owns a majority stake in Bangalore Airport, is open to acquiring Airports Authority of India (AAI)‘s 13 per cent stake in Bangalore Airport and bid for other government-owned airports to be privatised in future, said Hari Marar, Managing Director & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Ltd.
“If the stake comes up for sale, we will definitely increase our stake. The fact that Fairfax already owns 57 per cent of Bangalore Airport, so its commitment is strong. I can tell you Fairfax’s commitment is long term and, therefore, it has a chance to increase its taking longer,” said Marar. He said that Bangalore Airport is the largest part of the Prem Watsa-owned Fairfax in India. Besides BIAL, Fairfax also owns stakes in Quess Corp and Thomas Cook India.
Earlier, the government had said that it planned to divest its existing stakes at major metro airports; however, that process seems to have slowed down for now.
Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has several key stakeholders. Fairfax India Holdings Corporation holds a significant 57 per cent equity interest in BIAL, with 13.4 per cent held directly by its wholly-owned subsidiary and 43.6 per cent held indirectly through Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Limited. Siemens Project Ventures GmbH is one of the stakeholders, with a 20 per cent equity interest, and the Airports Authority of India and Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd each hold 13 per cent equity in the airport. These stakeholders collectively play a vital role in the operation and development of Bangalore’s International Airport under a concession agreement with the Government of India until 2068.
- Also read: AAI cuts debt, eyes higher non-aero revenue
According to the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), 25 AAI airports have been earmarked for leasing over the 2022 to 2025 period, with expected proceeds of ₹10,782 crore.
Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi and Jodhpur are among the airports. Others are Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajahmundry.
Marar said that Anchorage infrastructure Investments Holdings Ltd “will bid for the other airports if the Airports Authority of India decides to divest in them.” Just like it bid for other six airports being privatised prior to this by the AAI.
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