MIAL, oilcos pact for integrated fuel facility
New Delhi   01-Oct-2010

Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has signed an MoU with three public sector oil companies to form a joint venture (JV) for the purpose of setting up an integrated aviation fuelling facility at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).

The JV, known as Mumbai Aviation Fuel Farm Facility Private Limited, will have MIAL along with three public sector undertakings- IndianOil, HPCL and BPCL— as equal partners with a shareholding of 25% each.

“This is an important milestone in the transformation of CSIA. We look forward to partnering with IndianOil, HPCL and BPCL to create a modern and efficient aviation fuel facility to cater to the needs of airlines operating from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport ,” said MIAL’s managing director Sanjay Reddy.

The venture will start developing integrated facility at the site of the existing IndianOil and HPCL facilities near terminal 1A, by upgrading facilities, increasing tankage and linking it to the hydrant systems that supply fuel at the hydrant pits of the aircraft parking stands.

At present, each oil PSU has its own aviation fuelling facilities, scattered across Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport . Since Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is a land-constrained airport, there were suggestions of integrating the aviation fuelling facilities into a single location, which would serve as a common-user fuel facility for all fuel suppliers.

The JVC will also take over the work of modifying the hydrant systems (currently being done by MIAL) to align them with phased terminal development process at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

It is proposed that the integrated fuelling facility will function on the principle of ‘open access’— which means all eligible suppliers will have equitable access to the facilities on the common-user principle, the release said.

The decision to integrate fuelling facilities was taken on April 15, 2009. MIAL is a joint venture between the GVK-SA consortium and the Airports Authority of India.