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| Edited By: KV Ramana |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 06:03 AM IST
GMR Malé International Airport Private Limited (GMIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, has achieved financial closure for the project to modernise, expand and operate the Malé international airport.
The total cost of the project has been pegged at $511 million. The cost, according to a company statement, would be funded through a combination of debt and equity in the ratio of 70:30.
The debt component of $358 million has been tied up with Axis Bank, Singapore branch, which is acting as the sole underwriter and mandated lead arranger for the entire debt facility.
The debt has a door-to-door tenure of 12 years with ballooning repayment over seven years commencing June 2015. Axis Bank is also acting as the security trustee and facility agent, whereas State Bank of India, Maldives branch, is acting as account bank for the debt facility.
On June 24, 2010, the consortium led by GMR with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) had won the concession for the Malé Airport for a period of 25 years. GMIAL is the special purpose vehicle formed in Maldives pursuant to the concession in which GMR would have 77% stake, while the rest is held by MAHB.
Malé international airport is the gateway to Maldives and is one of the fastest growing airports in the region. Situated on Hulhulé Island at the South Western tip of India, MIA is the largest airport in Maldives located in the capital city of Malé.
The traffic at the Malé Airport in the year 2009 was 2.6 Million passengers with traffic growth in first half of 2010 clocking over 20%.
With Malé, the GMR Group has four operational airports including Delhi, Hyderabad and Istanbul.
