Thiruvananthapuram, June 12 (IANS): Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), the country's first greenfield airport in the public-private-partnership model, on Friday announced a 21 percent dividend on its shares for 2014-15, up from 18 percent in 2013-14.

This was declared at the board meeting here chaired by the CIAL Chairman, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

In the last fiscal, CIAL made a gross profit of Rs.413.96 crore, up from Rs.361.39 crore during 2013-14 and after tax it stood at Rs.144.58 crore, up from Rs.124.42 crore.

CIAL, that opened in 1999, in the last fiscal handled a record 6.4 million passengers.

Chandy said since 2003-04 CIAL has been consistently making profits.

"If the annual general body meeting to be held in Kochi in August approves the 21 percent dividend that has been declared by the board, nearly 18,000 investors would received 153 percent of their investment back.

"The Kerala government, which has invested Rs.100 crore, has got more than that till now," Chandy said.