BENGALURU: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a decision to develop six airports in the country, including Mangaluru airport, under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram are the other five airports.
The cabinet gave “in-principle” approval for leasing out six airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) for operation, management and development under PPP through Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC), according to a statement issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
Mangaluru International Airport handled around 25 lakh passengers in 2017-18 , which was around 30% more than the passenger traffic during 2016-17. The PPP in airport infrastructure projects has brought world class infrastructure at airports, delivery of efficient and timely services to passengers, augmenting revenue stream to the AAI without making any investment.
Presently, the airports being managed under the PPP model include New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin.
To decide on any issue falling beyond the scope of PPPAC, the Centre has also decided to constitute an Empowered Group of Secretaries headed by CEO, NITI Aayog with Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Secretary, Department of Expenditure.
International operators and investors prefer brownfield airport expansion opportunities and the airport sector may provide an immediate opportunity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) by adoption of a PPP approach. “It has been decided to lease out six airports; Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvanthapuram and Mangaluru of AAI in the first phase for development, operation and management under PPP. This is expected to enhance the revenue to AAI and increased economic development in these areas in terms of job creation and related infrastructure,” the release stated.
While some airports are developed through PPP, it has also helped AAI in enhancing its revenues and focusing on developing airports and air navigation infrastructure in the rest of the country.