YIAPL Achieves Financial Closure for Noida International Airport
Aug. 11—NEW DELHI — Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International, which is developing the Noida International Airport, also popularly known as the Jewar airport, on Tuesday said that it has achieved financial closure for the airport project.
" Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd today (10 August) signed the financing agreements with the State Bank of India (SBI) and Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), the Government of Uttar Pradesh's nodal agency for the project, to achieve financial close of the Noida International Airport (NIA) project," the company said in a statement.
"YIAPL has raised INR3,725 crore in debt from SBI to be repaid over a period of 20 year with one-year moratorium post completion of the project. This is one of the largest financings in an Indian greenfield airport. The financial close marks another crucial milestone for the project, bringing it closer to start of construction works," it added.
Financial closure for an infrastructure project is typically defined as a stage when all the conditions of a financing agreement are fulfilled prior to the initial availability of funds.
The date on which financial closure is achieved is usually deemed to be the date of commencement of concession period.
The first phase of the Noida airport project is due to be operational by 2023, when it will handle 12 million passengers per year.
"We are delighted to have signed the financing agreements with SBI and NIAL to develop Noida International Airport. This marks the financial close for the project, and we now eagerly look forward to the development of the airport in close collaboration with our partners including NIAL and SBI," said Christoph Schnellmann, Chief Executive Officer, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited.
"This will enable the team to focus on construction works for the airport development. We are all eagerly waiting to build India's leading airport which will boast of quality, efficiency, technology, and sustainability," added Arun Vir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL).
Zurich Airport has earlier pipped three bidders—the GMR Group-led consortium comprising Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), Adani Enterprises Ltd and Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings Ltd — by offering the highest bid for the airport project.
The Jewar airport will be the National Capital Region's third, after the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Ghaziabad's Hindon. The new airport will be 100 km from the GMR Group-operated Delhi airport, the capital's only international airport so far.
The second phase of the Jewar airport is due to be completed by FY31 and will increase its capacity to 30 million passengers per year, while the third and fourth phases are due to be finished by FY36 and FY40, respectively, further enhancing its capacity to 50 million and 70 million passengers, respectively.
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