BHUBANESWAR: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) could soon be privately managed as the Centre has earmarked it for leasing out under public private partnership (PPP) mode. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday that as per the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), 25 airports of Airport Authority of India (AAI) have been earmarked for leasing from 2022 to 2025.
While replying to a question in the Upper House whether the Union government was planning to handover the operation of more airports to the private players, Singh said airports in Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajahmundry have been earmarked to be leased out.
The minister said that AAI has leased out eight of its airports for their operation, management and development on a long-term lease basis. AAI airports are leased out in public interest for their better management, utilising private sector efficiency and investment. The states and passengers are the ultimate beneficiaries of enhanced airport infrastructure and facilities created by private partners, who operate, manage and develop the leased airports under PPP, said Singh.
The airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have a multiplying effect on the economy of the states. The revenue received by AAI from the leased airports is also utilised towards the development of airport infrastructure across the country, said Singh.