National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), India's quasi-sovereign fund, has signed a pact to invest Rs 675 crore ($81 million) in GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Ltd (GVIAL), a special purpose vehicle to develop and operate the Bhogapuram international airport.
This marks NIIF’s second airport deal, after it completed its investment in GMR Goa International Airport Ltd, which operates Manohar International Airport in Goa, in April 2023.
NIIF invested Rs 631 crore in the Goa airport as part of its commitment to back three projects of GMR Airports Ltd.
GMR Visakhapatnam was awarded the concession to develop and operate the greenfield Bhogapuram international airport, to the north of Visakhapatnam, in 2020 under a 40-year design-build-finance-operate-and-transfer model.
The Bhogapuram airport will become the largest airport in Andhra Pradesh with a phase I capacity of up to 6 million passengers per annum and an ultimate capacity of up to 40 million passengers a year.
“NIIF believes that Bhogapuram International Airport will strengthen aviation infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh, playing a pivotal role in the region’s economic progress in the coming years,” said Vinod Giri, Managing Partner at NIIF’s Master Fund.
NIIF’s Master Fund is India’s largest infrastructure fund with a diversified portfolio across transportation, energy and digital infrastructure. The Master Fund is one of four investment vehicles that NIIF manages. Overall, NIIF manages $4.9 billion of equity capital commitments across the Master Fund, Fund of Funds, Strategic Opportunities Fund, and India-Japan Fund.
GMR Airports is a joint venture of India’s GMR Group and France's Groupe ADP. The company operates six airports--Delhi, Hyderabad, North Goa and Bidar airports in India, as well as the Kualanamu Airport in Medan, Indonesia and Mactan Cebu Airport in the Philippines. It is also awaiting the signing of the concession agreement for Nagpur airport.