DAMEPL asked to bear debt till pact is terminated

Sudhir Krishna, Secretary of the union urban development ministry informed that the Delhi Airport Metro Express (DAMEPL) will have to bear the debt till the concession agreement is terminated. DAMPEL is the joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure and Construccionesy Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, SA (CAF) and it operates the metro rail corridor connecting Delhi airport. The joint venture firm recently submitted termination notice to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Following this, DMRC took over the operations of the airport metro expressway project from July 1. DMRC said it was operating the line in public interest and alleged that DAMEPL’s notice to DMRC for termination of the agreement was in violation of the concession agreement. DMRC has not accepted the termination notice served by DAMEPL and Krishna said DAMEPL has to bear the debt of the project till the notice is accepted. Originally, it had a debt of about Rs 2,000 crore and Reliance Infra had extended a sub-ordinate debt of about Rs 875 crore to the project (which the company may show as its equity to the project).