The Union government is now plans to lower the airport development fees by spreading it over a longer tenure. The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation had on October 16 asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to infuse more equity into Delhi and Mumbai airports so that the Airport Development Fee (ADF) that is charged from passengers flying into these airports can be scrapped from January 1.
The AAI had agreed to infuse additional equity. However, the inability of GMR and GVK – the private partners developing the Delhi and Mumbai airports, respectively- to arrange more funds has forced the government to rethink its decision.
An official told a business newspaper that ADF has to be lowered if not abolished. The way forward seems to be to spread it over a longer period of time so that amount payable per passenger decreases. The ADF is charged to bridge gap in project funding.
According to the ministry, the expected financing gap in case of Mumbai International Airport will be around Rs 4,200 crore while in case of Delhi International Airport, it is likely to be Rs 1,500 crore if ADF is abolished from January.
A domestic passenger pays Rs 200 and Rs 100 as ADF at Delhi and Mumbai airports, respectively, while those flying abroad pay Rs 1,300 and Rs 600 per trip.
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