GMR, Maldives govt agree on arbitrator

The GMR Group and the Maldives government have agreed on the name of an arbitrator who is likely to decide on the compensation amount to be paid to the Indian company. Tushar Srivastava reports.

The GMR Group and the Maldives government have agreed on the name of an arbitrator who is likely to decide on the compensation amount to be paid to the Indian company after Male abruptly cancelled the contract and wrested control of the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport from the GMR-led consortium in December last year.

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Male had said it would pay compensation to the private operator. The GMR Group is planning to seek a compensation of over $800 million from the Maldives government. Male, sources said, insists that according to its estimates, the amount could be anywhere between $150-350 million.

GMR had also appointed a consultant to advise the group on the issue, said sources.

GMR and Malaysia Airports Holdings had won the $500-million project in November 2010 to modernise and run the Male airport for 25 years in a tender process overseen by the World Bank. MACL (state-controlled Maldives Airport Company Ltd), based on Maldivian government’s instructions, had on November 27 terminated the contract.