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Adani Airports Holdings (AAHL), the country’s second-largest airport operator, has expressed interest in hiking its stake in Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) from the current 74 per cent. The remaining 26 per cent is held by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The Adani Group had acquired the majority stake in the airport from the GVK Group in August 2020.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), controlled by MIAL, is the country’s second-largest airport (in terms of passengers served), behind Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
“AAHL is keen on bidding for all airports (the government intends to privatise) and will look to acquire a minority stake of the government in the Mumbai airport,” a statement in the segmental analysis of the airports business, in the annual report of Adani Enterprises, stated. A mail sent to AAHL remained unanswered till the time of going to print.
Adani Group’s intent of acquiring the minority stake of AAI in MIAL can only take effect if the government carries forward an earlier proposal mooted by it to sell AAI’s residual stake in all the public-private partnership airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad as part of its national monetisation pipeline.
Sources said that in 2021, the government had mooted a plan to sell its residual stake in the four airports, but later put it on hold. The proposal will require the approval of the Union Cabinet.
AAI also has a 26 per cent stake in Delhi International Airport. Its stake in Hyderabad and Bengaluru airport entities is lower at 13 per cent each. FE
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