Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the special meeting of shareholders of Fairfax India Holdings Corporation. My name is Jennifer Pankratz. I am the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Fairfax India. I am joined here today by Ben Watsa, Chairman of Fairfax India; Chandran Ratnaswami, Executive Vice Chairman; Gopalakrishnan Soundarajan, Chief Executive Officer; and Amy Sherk, Chief Financial Officer of Fairfax India, as well as Sumit Maheshwari, a Director of Fairfax India. Before we commence with the formal business of the meeting, we would like to advise you that some of the statements made this morning may contain forward-looking information. These are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ.
We refer you to the cautionary statements contained in our Management Proxy Circular, our financial reports, and other public documents for full details. We would like to remind our shareholders that the sole purpose of today's special meeting is to consider a special resolution approving a one-time deviation from the investment concentration restriction set forth in our bylaws in order to permit us to complete the acquisition of an additional 10% equity interest in Bangalore International Airport Limited, referred to in this meeting as BIAL. Accordingly, we would like to remind shareholders that we will only be addressing questions submitted during the meeting that are directly related to the special resolution being considered at today's meeting. Any questions submitted that are unrelated to the formal business of today's meeting will not be addressed today. With that, I will now turn it over to Mr. Ben Watsa, our Chairman, who will oversee the formal portion of today's special meeting.
Thank you, Jennifer. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fairfax India's special meeting of our shareholders. I am Ben Watsa, Chairman of Fairfax India, and I will act as Chairman of this meeting. I shall ask Jennifer Pankratz, the Corporate Secretary of Fairfax India, to act as Secretary of the meeting. I shall also appoint Shirley Tom of Computershare Trust Company of Canada to act as a scrutineer and to compute the votes of any polls taken at this meeting and to report thereon to me as Chairman. I can report that as a result of reviewing an affidavit of mailing and a preliminary report of the scrutineer, I am satisfied that notice of this special meeting has been duly given, that a quorum is present, and that this special meeting is therefore properly called and constituted.
As you know, on December 3rd, 2024, we entered into an agreement to acquire an additional 10% equity interest in BIAL, which will increase our equity interest in BIAL from 64%- 74%. Assuming successful completion of the additional BIAL investment, the total amount of our investment in BIAL would exceed 25% of our total assets, which would exceed and therefore deviate from the investment concentration restriction set out in our bylaws. Accordingly, the sole purpose of today's special meeting is to consider, and if deemed advisable, to pass a special resolution approving a one-time deviation from the investment concentration restriction set forth in our bylaws in order to permit us to complete the acquisition of an additional 10% equity interest in BIAL, as more particularly described in the Management Proxy Circular that was mailed to shareholders in advance of the special meeting.
As required by our bylaws and as described in greater detail in our Management Proxy Circular, in order to pass this special resolution, it must be approved by at least two-thirds of the votes cast at the meeting by holders of the multiple voting shares and holders of the subordinate voting shares present or represented by proxy at the meeting. Each voting class has a class. I am pleased to report that with respect to the multiple voting shares, we have received proxies representing 99% of the outstanding multiple voting shares, 100% of which have been directed to be voted in favor of the special resolution. And with respect to the subordinate voting shares, we have received proxies representing approximately 68% of our outstanding subordinate voting shares, of which approximately 99% have been directed to be voted in favor of the special resolution.
Before we proceed, I would like to take a moment to provide a brief update in respect of our investment in BIAL based on publicly available information, which highlights why we firmly believe in the unparalleled growth opportunities presented by our investment in BIAL. BIAL's Terminal 2 became fully operational in 2023, and BIAL now has the capacity for over 50 million passengers annually. BIAL has further expansion plans for phase II of Terminal 2 and the third terminal, taking capacity to 90 million passengers by 2034. BIAL's performance in calendar year 2024 was outstanding. BIAL had total passenger traffic of 40.7 million people in calendar year 2024, an increase from 37.2 million in calendar year 2023. BIAL's international passenger traffic grew 21% in 2024, which was the highest growth in international passenger traffic compared to other major Indian airports.
In 2024, BIAL introduced 12 new domestic destinations and 4 new international routes and is now servicing 75 domestic and 30 international destinations. BIAL also reported significant growth in cargo volumes, processing over 496,000 metric tons of cargo in calendar year 2024, a 17% increase compared to calendar year 2023. International cargo grew 23%. In February of 2024, Air India Limited and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, both affiliates of the Tata Group, entered into an agreement with the government of Karnataka for a cumulative investment of INR 23 billion into the state's aerospace and defense sector. The investment includes the development of comprehensive maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities for aircraft and other aerospace facilities on BIAL's leasehold land.
The strategic alliance is expected to boost air travel connectivity to and from India and will help establish the airport as a premier aviation hub for southern India, driving growth in both domestic and international passenger traffic. BIAL has recently received a AAA domestic credit rating from ICRA, India Ratings, and CRISIL Ratings Limited. We would like to also remind you that we expect to release our fourth quarter and 2024 year-end preliminary results, unaudited financial results, in mid-February and our 2024 annual report in early March, in which we will provide updates with respect to our business, operations, investments, and financial results. We also expect to hold our annual general meeting in April, where our shareholders will hear more about our business, operations, investments, and financial results, and will provide our shareholders with further opportunity to ask questions.
I will now outline how voting and questions will be addressed in this virtual meeting format. The primary difference in how we will conduct today's meeting is the manner in which voting will take place. Usually, and today is no exception, the majority of shareholders submit their proxies or voting instructions in advance of the meeting. In situations where the meeting is held in person, registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders who wish to vote at a meeting would be required to attend the meeting in person. Since we are hosting today's meeting virtually, voting during the meeting will take place exclusively via our virtual webcast platform. To vote, click the voting tab on the left of your screen and select either for or against. You will see "Vote Received" after making your selection. Voting will be open throughout the formal portion of the meeting.
If you voted in advance of the meeting and you do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, then you do not need to vote during the meeting. Another manner in which this virtual meeting will be different is with respect to questions, which will be accepted through this online platform. To submit a question, type your question into the text box from the messaging tab on the left of your screen and click "Send." When submitting a question, please be advised that as this is a special shareholders' meeting, we will only be addressing questions that are in respect of the formal business of this meeting. We will address questions directly related to a particular motion at the appropriate time of the meeting before a vote is taken.
Therefore, if you have any questions directly related to the special resolution, the Secretary for today's meeting will read aloud only the questions directly related to the special resolution, and depending on the nature of the question, one of the members of the Fairfax India Management Team will respond. Please note that only registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders are entitled to vote at this meeting. Beneficial shareholders who have not duly appointed themselves as proxy holders are not able to vote at this meeting. I will now ask the balloting to be opened to registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders. The polls are now open on the platform, and at this point, all registered shareholders and proxy holders who have properly logged in will be able to see on the screen the motion to be brought forth at this meeting.
Following the presentation of the motion, Jennifer Pankratz will confirm for us when the polls have closed. Once the electronic balloting closes, your votes will be submitted. At this time, I will open this meeting to any questions directly related to the special resolution that has been submitted to this meeting by shareholders. Jennifer, were there any questions submitted directly related to the special resolution?
Yes, Mr. Chairman. We have received a question. When can we receive detailed financials of this large investment in the airport?
Thank you, Jennifer. I'll respond to that. This is Amy Sherk. Fairfax India will continue to be an investment entity, and therefore BIAL will continue to be carried at fair value in our financial statements and not consolidated. We will continue to provide detailed information on that fair value and provide summarized financial data on a quarterly basis for BIAL in our MD&A disclosures.
Thank you.
Thank you, Amy.
That concludes the Q&A portion of the special meeting. I will now turn it over to our Chairman to continue with the special meeting.
Thanks, Jennifer. I will now invite a motion with respect to the special resolution, the full text of which is set forth in Appendix A to the Management Proxy Circular as placed before the meeting.
I move that the special resolution, the full text of which is set forth in Appendix A to the Management Proxy Circular as placed before the meeting, be approved.
I second the motion.
You have heard the motion. I would ask registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders to cast their votes through the online portal. As a reminder, if you have already voted or sent in your proxy, there is no need to do anything unless you wish to change your vote. We will now take a brief pause for 60 seconds to allow registered shareholders and proxy holders to complete their electronic voting on the motion brought forth at this meeting.
Mr. Chairman, the voting is now complete and the polls are closed.
Thank you for casting your votes. This brings us to the end of the voting on the item of business before this meeting. I have been advised by the scrutineer that the proxies deposited for the meeting have now been voted on. I confirm that this special resolution has been passed. We will file a report on SEDAR+ setting out the voting results following the meeting. This completes the matter of business to be conducted as set out in the notice of the special meeting and the Management Proxy Circular. If there is no further business to be brought before the meeting, I will entertain a motion for the formal termination of this meeting.
I move that this meeting be terminated.
I second the motion.
I declare the meeting terminated. This concludes our special meeting of the shareholders. On behalf of Fairfax India, I would like to thank you again for joining us today.