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NEW DELHI: As diplomatic tensions between India and Canada escalate on account of the recent killing of a Khalistani militant separatist in Surrey, British Columbia, the investment by Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, which holds 57% stake in Bangalore International Airport Ltd, through its India holding company, is not expected to get impacted, according to a senior executive.
“It is business as usual,” said Bhaskar Anand Rao, Chief Financial Officer of Bangalore International Airport Ltd to ET Infra on the sidelines of a roundtable conference on the airport sector organised by India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd.
He highlighted that there has been no negative impact from the diplomatic spat between the two countries and the airport is looking to expand its capacity to 90 million passengers per annum in the next 10 years. By the end of March, the capacity is expected to reach 40 million passengers.
According to Fairfax India’s annual report for 2022, total investment of about $1.8 billion will be required to undertake capacity development for 90 million passengers per annum and the same is expected to be funded through internally generated funds and debt.
“..we will go through a very high intensive capital expansion program for all airports and I am not talking about Bangalore Airport alone. It is going to be the norm and so we would have to find a solution how we can fund these capital expansion that we will be going through,” said Rao in the roundtable conference.
“We should be in a position to get more insurance companies, provident funds, pension (funds),” Rao added. Canadian pension and insurance funds are some of the significant investors in Indian financial market and companies.
According to Fairfax India’s annual report for 2022, Bangalore International Airport is its largest investment and accounts for 41% of the market value of its overall investments. The valuation of Fairfax India’s shareholding in the airport stood at $1.2 billion in 2022.
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