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The Karanataka government has refused the appeal of the Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) to increase the State’s equity in the airport by Rs 150 crore and suggested the BIAL to use the excess land given by it (the State government) to raise money for expansion rather than seeking incr­eased equity of the State. The BIAL shareholders had sought additional Rs 150 crore equity participation from the Karnataka government. The Government of Karna­taka has a 13 per cent share in BIAL. The state has given already Rs 350 crore and 4,000 acres of land for the airport project. Sources in the government said that this land was supposed to be commercially exploited to make the airport economically viable. The State government has cited this clause and suggested that BIAL makes use of the space available. How­ever, the State has allowed BIAL to increase the user development fee charged from departing passengers to Rs 430 from Rs 231.40 for each domestic passenger and Rs 1,700 from Rs 952.30 for international passengers. If this increase in user fee is approved by the Airports Economic Regulatory Aut­ho­rity, it will make BIA the most expensive airport in India, on par with Hyder­abad airport.