GMR Infrastructure Ltd, after the success of its two airport projects, is now eyeing a bigger play in the aviation space.
GMR Infrastructure Ltd, after the success of its two airport projects, is now eyeing a bigger play in the aviation space.
The company is now working on a plan to keep the smaller airports and look for opportunities in the bigger airports after the successful execution of its two airport projects — the greenfield airport at Hyderabad and the brownfield project at Delhi International Airport.
While the Hyderabad airport has been designed to handle 12 million passengers initially, the Delhi airport has already handled over 22 million passengers in the year-ended March 2009.
Though company officials refused to comment on its airport strategy, sources said GMR Infra was now eyeing bigger projects that would have a capacity to handle over 5 million passengers. These airports would meet international standards and have additional property value in terms of facilities around the airport, which include hotels, entertainment, etc. These additional features would also add to the earnings of the pure-play airport businesses. In fact, this would be the key highlight of GMR Infra’s bids for any of its future aviation projects, sources said.
The company is pursuing the airport segment despite a fall in passenger traffic in the two airports in the previous year. In Hyderabad, for instance, the passenger traffic is estimated to have dropped by about 11%. However, GMR Infra is confident of gaining the lost passenger traffic, primarily due to expectations of a reversal in the slowdown sometime later this year.
In fact, with the UPA government expected to renew its focus on infrastructure, the players in the sector are expecting bigger opportunities in the days to come.
Sources added that GMR Infra was planning to focus on road and construction projects till such major airport projects came up for bidding. The company has also formed a 150-member internal team to maximise returns from the construction sector. “All these years, we were awarding the construction contracts to other companies for all our projects. Now, we want to use our internal resources for the construction activities. Initially, we will cater to the captive needs of the company through the construction team,” a company official said.
GMR Infra’s construction team is expected to bring in more discipline into the execution of the projects, in addition to improving the margins.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}