New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has given a three-month extension to the Adani group to take possession of three privatised airports in Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, sources confirmed to ETV Bharat.
Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, took over the management control of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL). Adani Airport will now control 74% of Mumbai International Airport.
Sources said the takeover of Mumbai airport by the Adani group was easier for them as it had all amenities that an airport requires while the other AAI airports which are to be given through the public-private partnership (PPP) model requires improvement in infrastructure and it has also some logistical issues which require time.
The Adani group had on Tuesday said it will start work on the Navi Mumbai airport in another month and complete the financial closure in the next 90 days. This new international airport will be commissioned in 2024. Citing disruption caused by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the aviation sector, the Adani group had in June asked the AAI to invoke the force majeure clause to postpone the payment deadline by six months, sources told ETV Bharat.
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A force majeure is a common clause in contracts that essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as war, riots, epidemics or an event described by the legal term act of God (hurricane, flood or earthquake etc.) prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract.
The Adani group had signed a concession agreement on January 19 with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for three airports of Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram for a lease period of 50 years. The two stakeholders had signed the letter of agreement for the three airports in September 2020.
The Adani Group had invoked force majeure to defer the takeover of Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports in February 2020 and then AAI had extended the deadline by six months. On January 19, the Adani group signed a contract with the AAI for the operation, development and management of three airports for 50 years. As per the conditions, the Adani group was supposed to take over the airport within 6 months of signing the contract.
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