Adani group-controlled Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has pledged 51% stake in the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport to State Bank of India (SBI) in relation to a facility aggregating Rs 12,770 crore sanctioned by the lender to the project.
MIAL holds 74% of the total paid-up equity share capital of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL). The greenfield airport is set to start operations in the March quarter of FY25, claim Adani Enterprises officials, after a delay of three months from its previously announced opening date.
In March 2022, the Adani group had declared financial closure for NMIAL after SBI agreed to underwrite the entire debt requirement of Rs 12,770 crore for the project. The 51% pledged stake held by SBI is one of the largest in the airport business in India.
NMIAL had previously entered into a financing arrangement for Rs 8,645 crore with Yes Bank to meet part of the cost of design, development, financing, construction, operations and maintenance of Phase I of the Navi Mumbai airport project. Subsequently, Yes Bank cancelled the facility unilaterally.
Following the completion of all phases, Navi Mumbai airport would be able to handle 90 million passengers and 2.6 million tonne of cargo per annum by 2031-32. The first phase will see the initial capacity set at 20 million passengers. At full capacity, the airport will have four passenger terminals and two parallel runways. Mumbai International Airport has a capacity to handle 55 million passengers.
Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL), which controls 23% of the Indian air traffic, serving about 20% passenger base, sought shareholder approval in a recently conducted annual general meeting, to increase the borrowing limit to Rs 30,000 crore from Rs 20,000 crore by way of a special resolution.
AAHL’s consolidated net losses ballooned four times to Rs 227 crore at the end of FY24, up from Rs 52 crore clocked in FY23. This came despite a 26% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise in total income during FY24 to Rs 7,394 crore. At the stand-alone level, however, the company reported a net profit of Rs 473 crore, a 360% growth y-o-y.
AAHL controls seven operational airports in the country, including the Mumbai International Airport. MIAL reported a loss of Rs 608 crore for FY24, while the Ahmedabad airport recorded a loss of Rs 327 crore. Each of its other airports located at Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru and Lucknow posted losses for the same year.
A mail sent to the Adani group seeking comments for the story and updates about the Navi Mumbai airport project remained unanswered at the time of going to press.
