MUMBAI: CRISIL on Tuesday downgraded its ratings on the long-term bank facility of the Navi Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (NMIAL) to ‘CRISIL A’ from ‘CRISIL A+ stable’ and placed it on ‘ratings watch with negative implications’. NMIAL is setting up a greenfield airport at Navi Mumbai, and the downgrade follows the lowering of ratings on its parent, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), “reflecting the weakening of the financial profile of the parent”, said the global analytical firm. MIAL is owned by the GVK Group-led consortium. MIAL owns 74 per cent stake in NMIAL and the rest is held by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the state-run city development agency.
NMIAL has a deadline of 2023, and the estimated project cost is Rs 14,181 crore. Last month, India Ratings also put MIAL on ‘Ratings Watch Negative’, saying the downgrade reflected on delays in real estate monetisation, higher-than-projected equity injections, and higher-than-estimated capex leading to weaker liquidity. Further, India Ratings had said MIAL deferred its plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore through a bond issue due to the unfavourable atmosphere.