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`CIAL will come out of red by July 2001'

Our Bureau

KOCHI, Aug. 10

ALLAYING the fears of the shareholders and the public about the future of the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), the Managing Director, Mr. Babu C. Rajeev, said at a press conference here that the company would come out of the red by July 2001 and by that time it would make a profit of Rs. 3 crores.

Like any other infrastructure projects, CIAL was also faced with the usual teething troubles in its infancy and that would be overcome in a year's time when more and more airlines started operating from here, he said.

He said that 96 flights operated from the CIAL Nedumbassery airport per week and this was expected to go up by 60 more in the near future. With the operation of 96 flights, the company had been making an operating surplus of Rs. 1 crore per month. But th e heavy interest burden on the total loan liability of Rs. 209 crores had been pushing the company in to the red, he added.

The company planned to reduce the loan liabilities using the Rs. 110 crores to be raised through the rights issue which was expected to take place in three months.

Besides, Air India would launch a pilots' training centre here which would also raise the revenue towards landing charges.

They said that the Government would buy its shares when the rights issue was subscribed by the existing share holders. If the current share holders failed to subscribe to the rights issue then the company might think of selling it to outsiders.

Many, including foreign agencies, had shown interest to buy the CIAL shares, he said. A three-member monetary committee had been constituted to market the shares which could not be sold through the proposed rights issue.