AAI takes ECB route to fund ₹25,000-cr airport infra

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to raise $300 million through External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) out of the proposed five-year outlay of ₹25,000 crore, starting this year, said chairman Arvind Singh, adding that the AAI board has given the green signal for the move. The airport authority aims to spend a minimum of ₹5,000 crore each year on infrastructure in line with the government's announcement of building 100 new airports in five years, in addition to the 48 airports newly made operational in the past four years. Once these projects are completed, the passenger capacity of the AAI-run airports will more than double to 700-750 million as compared to the current 350 million passenger capacity, as it goes for expansion, up-gradation and greenfield development, said Singh.