Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd’s (DIAL) plan to fund the Rs 8,975-crore airport project (Phase I) by raising funds from real estate projects within the larger airport area ran has now led to a shortfall of nearly Rs 1,500 crore. Top officials closely involved with the project revealed that there was opposition from the Airports Authority of India (26% partner in DIAL) over making good this gap through equity infusion in proportion of stakeholders’ holdings. The ministry then asked the consortia to raise more debt but the lead project banker advised them to seek a development fee as the UDF alone may not have been a cushion enough to do so.

‘‘DIAL has to share 46% of its revenue with AAI and 3% with its European technical partner, Fraport. On the remaining 51%, 30% tax would be charged and so DIAL will get only about Rs 36 from every Rs 100 taken as UDF. This puts a limit on the amount of debt that can be serviced and no bank today will lend more than what can be recovered after the global crisis triggered for this very reason in the US,’’ said a source.

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