New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS) Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Thursday said Rs.443 crore has been collected as development fees by Delhi and Mumbai airports till October.

International passengers flying out of Delhi are charged Rs.1,300 as airport development fee, while the corresponding fee for domestic departures is Rs.200. In Mumbai, an international passenger pays Rs.600, while a domestic flier pays Rs.100.

The levy, which came into effect March 1, is expected to be in place for three years, until the developers of the two airports recover enough money to bridge their combined funding shortfall of about Rs.4,700 crore.

'The amount collected as development fee by Delhi International Airport and by Mumbai International Airport up to October 2009 has been Rs.323.11 crore and Rs.119.75 crore respectively,' said Patel in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

'The funds collected through the levy is to be utilised only for the construction of such aeronautical assets which will be transferred by the joint venture companies to Airports Authority of India upon completion of lease period,' Patel added.

The independent regulatory authority set up in August -- Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) -- has been given the power to deal with issues like fee revision.