GMR Industries to foray into aviation

Company to acquire aircraft

BY A CORRESPONDENT
24th January 2006

GMR Industries Ltd., a part of the 2, 500 crore GMR Group is considering a proposal to enter the civil aviation segment with its own aircraft. The group, which had thus far been involved with infrastructure, transportation, power and manufacturing, is all set to acquire aircraft for its own use as well as for chartering purposes, a BusinessLine report said.

Quoting sources, the paper said that "as a first step to exploit the opportunities in the transportation sector, the company proposes to acquire aircraft for own use as well as for chartering services. The management plans to consider foray into shipping and container services subsequently."

The group has been managing infrastructure development projects based on the public-private partnerships model for the last few years, and is involved in the manufacturing sector too.

Showing interest in the emerging opportunities in the transport sector, the GMR management has reportedly said that " the company is exploring various options such as shipping, aviation and container services."

Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL), a part of the GMR Group, has announced financial closure and will commence project works for the Greenfield International Airport at Hyderabad. This project will be carried out in association with the Malaysian Airports Holding Berhad, Malaysia's leading airport management company.

HIAL had also entered a consortium with with Fraport AG (Europe's largest cargo hub and second largest passenger airport), Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide (owners and managers of Frankfurt Airport) and the India Development Fund (an IDF AMC managed fund). GMR was the lead member of the consortium, which successfully bid for the restructuring and modernisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports.