Barclays, Aditya Birla Finance, NIIF provides Rs 1k cr debt to DIAL

Barclays Bank, Aditya Birla Finance, and a fund owned by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) have provided a debt facility of Rs 1,000 crore to Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). The trio infused in five-year bonds of the GMR Group-promoted firm wherein a 9.52% coupon would be paid for the first three years and 9.98% for the remaining two years. Barclays Bank infused Rs 500 crore, Aditya Birla Finance infused Rs 150 crore, and Aseem Infrastructure Finance, a NIIF fund, infused Rs 350 crore. Barclays affirmed the development. On May 27, ICRA Ratings had given an A+ rating to the Rs 1,000-crore bonds. DIAL must disburse a 25 basis point higher coupon if the credit rating is downgraded below the 'A' rating. However, there is no measure if the rating is slipped by one notch from 'A+' to 'A', according to the information memorandum. DIAL had raised Rs 3,257 crore in rupee bonds at 10.96% by the March 2021 end due to a substantial decrease in the internal accruals caused by the Covid-related disturbances. Proceeds from the latest debt facility would be utilised to fund the increase in interest payments during construction work, resulting from revised capital expenditure (capex) timelines and one-time drawdown evaluated at Rs 950-Rs 1,000 crores of the bond raised in March 2021, ICRA said. GMR Infrastructure's latest annual report for FY21 said that Phase 3A expansion comprises expansion of Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, construction of a fourth runway along with airfields enhancement, and construction of taxiways, which will boost the capacity of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport to 100 million passengers yearly. Image Source Also read: NIIF invests $300 million in DP World