After Delhi and Hyderabad, India's GMR Group starts operating Indonesia's Medan Airport

Currently, GMR Group is operating Delhi and Hyderabad airports as well as the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in the Philippines, reports PTI.

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GMR Group has announced that the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia has begun to be run by its joint venture, Angkasa Pura Aviasi. PT Angkasa Pura II, the state-owned airport operator in Indonesia, and GMR Airports Ltd. have partnered to become Angkasa Pura Aviasi (APA). The project will span a 25-year term of cooperation, and with it, GMR Airports, a division of GMR Infrastructure, will enter the expanding Indonesian aviation sector.

The joint venture formally took over the operations of Medan airport in the presence of Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation; Erick Thohir, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises; Edy Rachmayadi, Governor of North Sumatra, and Muhammad Awaluddin - President Director, Angkasa Pura II, the release said.

Currently, GMR Group is operating Delhi and Hyderabad airports as well as the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in the Philippines. It also recently finished the construction of Clark Airport in the Philippines and is also coming up with a new airport at Crete in Greece.

GMR Airports had bid for the development and operation of Medan airport, and the international selection process was conducted by PT Angkasa Pura II to select a strategic partner.

In November 2021, GMR Airports was announced as the winning bidder. The Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) and Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with PT Angkasa Pura II was signed in December 2021. For the project, GMR had entered into a 49:51 partnership with PT Angkasa Pura II.

"We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to transforming Medan airport into the western international hub of Indonesia and contributing to the overall infrastructure development of the country," Srinivas Bommidala, Chairman of Energy & International Airports at GMR Group, said.

"Our participation in the project is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Look East' policy and President Jokowi's commitment to developing infrastructure in Indonesia," he added.