Passengers to pay for Mumbai airport modernisation
Mumbai airport on Friday became the fourth airport in the country to be allowed
to levy a development fee from passengers to bridge the shortfall in funds for
modernising the facility.
The government approved collection of Rs 100 from outbound domestic passengers
and Rs 600 from international passengers from April 1. The fee would be in
force for four years, but be reviewed after six months.
The Mumbai airport modernisation project cost is pegged at Rs 9,802 crore and
the Mumbai International Airport Ltd has been allowed to raise up to Rs 1,543
crore through the development fee. However, if the project cost escalates
beyond Rs 9,802 crore, MIAL would have to tap other fund sources.
New airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore have been charging a development and
DIAL, which manages the New Delhi airport, too was allowed to charge the
development fee, although the move has come in for criticism from global
airlines' body IATA.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had yester on Thursday said such fees
could be imposed even at airports being modernised by the state-owned Airports
Authority of India. The massive aviation infrastructure required in India
"cannot be made on such a scale without the contribution from passengers and
other stakeholders," he had said. - PTI
lui godinho
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