GMR begins works on Greece airport

Hyderabad: GMR Airports Limited, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited, on Monday said it achieved the Concession Commencement Date (CCD) for design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of new international airport of Heraklion at Crete, Greece. Prime Minister of Greece Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis laid the foundation stone of the airport, marking the beginning of the project.

GMR Airports along with its Greek partner GEK TERNA signed the concession agreement in February 2019 for Crete airports.

The concession period for the project is 35 years including Phase 1 construction of five years. The consortium intends to invest over 500 million Euro for development of the new airport.

The project is well-funded through support of Government grant and would not require any debt. The entire project will be funded through a mix of equity, accruals from the existing airport, and financial grant being provided by the Government of Greece.

Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman - Energy and International Airports, GMR Group, said: "GMR is the first Indian airport operator to win bid to operate a European airport. It is a matter of great pride for us to work on this airport project. "