Despite the attorney general's clean chit, the civil aviation ministry said it has asked Delhi International Airport Ltd not to go ahead with an innovative financing plan to charge high deposits and low rentals from the winning bidder for commercially developing 43 acres of land near the airport.
This was conveyed to G M Rao, chairman of the GMR Group, DIAL's largest shareholder, and Kiran Kumar Grandhi, DIAL managing director, in a meeting on December 6.
According to ministry sources, DIAL officials have said that they will modify the scheme to ensure that the government does not lose any revenue, which could be quite substantial over the years.
A DIAL spokesperson confirmed the company was working on "different models that would be a win-win situation for both sides".
Senior civil aviation sources told Business Standard that the ministry has directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to write to DIAL officially asking it not to proceed with its plan.
Meanwhile, another letter has been sent to consultants to the bidding process ABN Amro and to the legal consultant Amarchand Mangaldas, asking them to give their opinion on whether what DIAL's revenue model was permissible under the Operation, Management and Development Agreement.
The ministry has objected to the high deposit -low rental model on grounds that it would impact its share of revenue from the commercial development of the land.
Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar has also been briefed on the government's position.
DIAL is modernising and restructuring New Delhi airport through a public private partnership. AAI (26 per cent), Hyderabad-based GMR group (50.1), Fraport AG and Eraman Malaysia (10 per cent each) and India Development Fund (3.9 per cent) have stakes in the company.
Top sources said that the attorney general's view, which was given last month, only specified that DIAL is free to form subsidiaries and is also free to collect deposits under the OMDA. He has not, however, said anything on one of the main points, which is whether the deposits will reduce the revenue shared with AAI.