TOFL sets aside ₹10,000-cr for building airports

Chennai-based Taking Off to the Future Pvt Ltd (TOFL) plans to develop private airports, both greenfield and brownfield across regions, and has formed a SEBI-approved airport-specific ₹10,000-crore fund. TOFL's Airport Fund is a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), and is a first of its kind in the airport sector, said managing director Gigi George. He added that sovereign fund has shown interest in investing around 30 percent in the AIF in the aviation sector. The company’s optimism is backed by a strong air traffic growth of 15-20 percent in the last five years. This momentum is likely to continue as the total passenger traffic (both domestic and international) has increased by over five times to 344 million in the last 10 years. With an annual growth rate of nearly 11 percent, the country will require airport development worth $100 billion in the next one decade, said George.