Delhi and Mumbai airports go to private hands

This is the first time that the two premier gateways of the country have gone to private hands.

Stiff opposition from Left parties and the unions notwithstanding, the consortia led by GMR and GVK Groups on Wednesday formally became majority private stakeholders in Delhi and Mumbai airports respectively.

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This is the first time that the two premier gateways of the country have gone to private hands, following the footsteps of Kochi International Airport as well as those in Hyderabad and Bangalore, which are now under construction.

At the first meeting of the two newly-constituted Boards in New Delhi on Wednesday, it was decided to name the GVK Group-led joint venture company as Mumbai International Airports Private Limited (MIAPL), while the one led by GMR Group has been named Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), sources in the companies said.

The MIAPL Board would be headed by GVK chief GV Krishna Reddy and would have four members each from GVK and its international partner, Airport Consortia South Africa, besides three from the AAI.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which so far was the sole controller of all airports in the country, holds 26 per cent stake each in the two joint venture companies set up for modernisation of these metro airports.

The two Boards had their first meeting after they signed an agreement with AAI, called the Operations, Maintenance and Development Agreements (OMDAs) and the shareholders agreements on April 4.