GMR Group Positioned as Leading Contender for $3 Billion Manila Airport Project

14 Feb 2024 , 11:32 AM

GMR Airports, a significant infrastructure company, is one of the front-runners for the $3 billion refurbishment of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The other two bidders are San Miguel Corporation, a Philippine corporation, and the Manila International Airport Consortium. GMR’s consortium also comprises Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation, a Philippines-based infrastructure corporation, and House of Investments, the Yuchengo family office that owns Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, one of the Philippines’ major banks.

The bid results will be declared on February 14.

According to the Philippine Transportation Agency, the project would upgrade terminals, increase capacity to up to 62 million people per year, and improve technology infrastructure.

The winning bidder will now run and maintain the airport, with capacity expected to quadruple to about 60 million people per year following the upgrade. The concession term will last for 25 years.

According to the Philippine Department of Transportation, the GMR-led company has offered the government a 33.30% stake. San Miguel Consortium, which also comprises South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corp., offered the greatest stake, 82.2%.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his government favour public-private partnerships (PPPs) and have devised a strategy for Philippine airports as the travel and tourist industry recovers from the COVID-19 epidemic.

If GMR Group’s proposal is successful, it will be the company’s third airport project in the Philippines. It won the competition to build and manage Mactan-Cebu International Airport in 2014 and was awarded the Clark International Airport expansion project in 2019. This will also be the group’s greatest international airport development outside of India, where it operates the capital Delhi Airport.

Saurabh Chawla, Executive Director (Finance & Corporate Strategy) of GMR Group, has stated that the company intends to continue operations both locally and globally.

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