GVK group to raise funds for airport business

NEW DELHI: GVK Power & Infrastructure is looking to raise funds for its airport business as the diversified group seeks to reduce its debt burden.

"We are looking to raise funds for the airport business, mainly to repay debt," G V Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman of GVK group, said here.

He was responding to a query on whether the company was planning to list Mumbai International Airport Ltd.

The group, which has over Rs 20,000 crore debt burden, is operating Mumbai and Bangalore international airports.

Reddy declined to comment on whether there are plans to list its airport business.

Earlier, sources had said the group was looking to raise more than Rs 3,000 crore by listing its airports arm -- GVK Airport Developers Ltd.

Reddy said the Mumbai airport is expected to see more than 40 million passengers in the current financial year ending March 31, 2016.

Last fiscal, it had about 36.4 million passengers.

When asked whether they were looking to develop more airports overseas, Reddy said the group is actively looking at opportunities in Indonesia and Africa.

Among others, it is already developing two airports in Indonesia.

GVK Power & Infrastructure reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 834.68 crore in the year ended March 2015. This figure is after calculating taxes, minority interest and share of profit/(loss) of associates.

During the same period, its income from operations stood at Rs 3,049.65 crore.

GVK has developed Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai and Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru.

The group has interests in diverse sectors including airports, energy, resources, transportation, hospitality and life sciences.