NIIF to invest Rs 675 crore in GMR's Bhogapuram airport project via CCDs, ET Infra

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<p>Representative Image<br /></p> — Representative Image

HYDERABAD: The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has entered into a binding agreement with GMR Airports Limited (GAL) to invest Rs 675 crore in GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Ltd (GVIAL), the special purpose vehicle that will be developing and operating the proposed Bhogapuram international airport.

NIIF will be making a primary investment by way of compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) to be issued by GVIAL. The transaction is, however, subject to customary completion of conditions precedent and necessary approvals, GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd said in a regulatory filing with the bourses on Thursday.

GAL is an arm of GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd and is a partnership between GMR Group and France’s Groupe ADP, in which the French government holds majority stake.

The investment is part of the financial partnership that the two players announced in December last year for the investment by NIIF in the equity capital of GAL’s three airport projects.

The Bhogapuram international airport (BIA) is NIIF’s second airport investment in a GAL project after GMR Goa International Airport Limited, which operates Manohar International Airport in Goa and was completed in April 2023.

GBS Raju, business chairman-airports, GMR Group termed the partnership with NIIF as a testament to GMR’s credibility as an airport infrastructure developer. “The new Bhogapuram airport and airport city will help transform Visakhapatnam and place it on the global map as the most preferred investment destination,” he said.

NIIF master fund managing partner Vinod Giri said BIA will strengthen aviation infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh and play a pivotal role in the region’s future economic progress.

GVIAL was awarded the concession in 2020 to develop and operate the greenfield BIA north of Visakhapatnam under a 40-year design-build-finance-operate-and-transfer (DBFOT) model.

The project, which is a part of the national infrastructure pipeline, is poised to become Andhra Pradesh’s largest airport with a phase I capacity of up to six million passengers per annum and an ultimate capacity to handle up to 40 million passengers per annum, GMR said.