Developing Mattala Int’l Airport: Top Indian player keen to throw hat into the ring ‘If proposition is feasible to do business’
October 7, 2017, 7:53 pm
by SURESH PERERA
HYDERABAD: GMR Group, a key player in the international infrastructure sphere, expressed optimism of participating in a global bidding process to develop Sri Lanka’s Mattala International Airport, but the proposition should be "feasible in doing business", says S. G. K. Kishore, Chief Executive Officer, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited.
‘We have always shown interest in developing airports globally, and if Mattala is feasible, we are keen to come into the picture to cut losses and make this civil air facility viable", he told a group of visiting Sri Lankan journalists at the Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) complex recently.
"It is important that we look at the models that can be built around the (Mattala) airport for the project to be viable. One proposal will be to establish a flying and aeronautical school to use the airport", he noted.
Under the modern concept, when constructing an airport, a city should be built around it, Kishore outlined.
The Bangalore headquartered GMR Group is a private sector, well diversified corporate with interests in airports, energy, transportation,highways and urban infrastructure sectors. It is credited with developing India’s busiest Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi and the RGIA in Hyderabad.
Apart from managing these two assets within India, the Group has also signed a concession agreement for operations and development of the Mectan Cebu International Airport in the Philippines for a period of 25 years.
The CEO said that there should be an eco-system to make the Mattala airport sustainable and profitable with many components around it to ensure viability.
"We developed the first-ever benchmark greenfield Airport City in Hyderabad. If the Sri Lankan government feels it needs a model airport at Mattala, there is capacity to do so, and we are ready to participate in the bidding process under the right atmosphere", he noted.
Indian tourists have been largely visiting Singapore and Malaysia as their preferred destinations, but now Sri Lanka has emerged as an attractive option. With a population of 1.25 billion, the capacity in every sector in India increasing and the average person is now keen to travel overseas, says Manish Agnihothri, Head – Strategic Planning.
With four SriLankan Airlines direct weekly flights now operating from Colombo to Hyderabad and a fifth frequency on the cards from October 2017, there is enormous potential for both countries to boost their tourism markets, he underscored.
Inaugurated in March 2008, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, the sixth largest metropolis in India, has the capacity to handle 12 million passengers and 100,000 tons of cargo per annum under Phase 1. With world-class facilities, it has been consistently ranked amongst the top three airports in the world in Airport Service Quality ratings.
"The Hyderabad airport development project was the first-ever private-public model in India. The concept was so successful that it was replicated world-wide", Agnihothri said.
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