NEWS

GMR Group shows interest, wants to invest in Build Better More program

Tiziana Celine Piatos · Sep 15, 2023, 3:18 PM

FILE: Government and stakeholders need to find immediate solutions to improve and modernize the Philippine airport infrastructure in order to attract more tourists to the country, stressed a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. This, amid the arrival of 1.3 million tourists in the country in the first quarter of 2023. Photo shows an artist’s perspective of the New Manila International Airport planned in Bulacan. Photo by PNA.

An Indian company expressed an interest in investing in airports, roads, and energy projects in the Philippines under the "Build Better More" program, Malacañang said on Friday.

In a statement, India's GMR Group noted the Marcos administration's ambitious infrastructure development as they met President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a courtesy call on the sidelines of his attendance at the 2023 Asian Summit.

Srinivas Bommidala, the chairman of GMR Airports, told the President that he is in charge of the group's international airports and energy, while his brother-in-law, Kiran Kumar Grandhi, as chairman of the group, is also in charge of strategy and finance.

"The group was started in 1978 by Mr. GM Rao, my father-in-law, his father. And they have commendable businesses. In 1994, we went into highways. In 1999, when India privatized [the] airports, we built an airport, six airports in India," Bommidala told Marcos.

Marcos said he is impressed by GMR's achievements, hoping the Indian firm could take part in the country's development of its airports, roads, and energy infrastructure.

"Definitely we need to improve the capacity that serves Manila. Sangley, the one of Ramon Ang. Anything you build it will get full. I don't worry, all my experience in major infrastructure, you think it overcapacity, three years later you'll build some more," Marcos said of the Philippine airports.

"And we want that, especially when it comes to travel, tourism, business travel, etc. We want it to increase as much as possible. I'm glad that you are looking at the Philippines."

Marcos told GMR's top officials that the administration's thrust toward building major infrastructures is part of the administration's economic agenda to advance development.

Marcos expressed hope that GMR can apply all its experiences and expertise in its Philippine participation in various major projects.

"We've been trying, the reason, we go to this process, is that it is a major part of our economic program. Well of course Manila is the gateway, even regional airports we are starting to develop, so that not everyone has to get to Sangley or Bulacan," Marcos said.

"Improve those airports, improve those facilities, roads, communication. Then they can go directly there," he added.

GMR Group, founded in 1978 by Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi. The group comprises several companies including GMR Infrastructure, GMR Energy, GMR Airports, and GMR Enterprises.

The group is a leading conglomerate in India, which also operates in Indonesia and Turkey.