SPV in place for Rs. 4,500-cr airport project

Fast-tracking the building work of the airport project, GMR Airports Limited has recently formed the special purpose vehicle (SPV) named as GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GMRGIAL) for developing the international green field airport at Mopa at an investment of Rs. 4,500cr. The first phase of the project is estimated to cost about Rs. 3,100-cr and will be completed in four phases with work on the first phase likely to commence in January 2017 and expected to be completed by 2020. The SPV will raise the funds, design, construct, and run the project, for which the state government will sign the concession agreement with the newly formed SPV-GMRGIAL, which will give the company the right to operate the business for 40 years, extensible for another 20 years. The state has invited expression of interest for the appointment of statutory auditor for GMRGIAL and the state government intends to draw a panel of chartered accountants for appointment as statutory auditor for the SPV formed by the selected bidders for the development of airport. On this score, GMR Airports Limited had given its acceptance to the letter of award issued by the state government in the middle of September, this year.