CHENNAI: In a significant decision, the Tamil Nadu government has now made it mandatory for the Union government to share a part of its revenue or any value realised in transferring airport assets to a third party.
The revenue shared must be proportionate and reflect the huge investments made by the State in creating these assets, such as land parcels acquired by the State government for Airport Authority of India (AAI), the Industries department policy note issued on Tuesday said.
TN has decided to transfer 30.57 acres of patta land to Chennai Airport before the end of this month, the note said. At an appropriate stage, it has to be ensured that the value of the land should be converted as TN’s equity in the Airport Project Special Purpose Vehicle or an appropriate revenue sharing arrangement proportionate to the investment must be arrived at before any asset transfer takes place to a private party, the note said.
The Centre is actively pursuing a policy to privatise airports and land cost forms a major part of project value. As per a policy decision taken by the Centre in 2007 with regard to construction of new airports and expansion of existing ones, States were acquiring unencumbered land parcels and handing them over to the AAI for development.
Fuel farm to be shifted to make way for aircraft parking bays
Reacting to the announcement to transfer land, Chennai Airport Director Dr Sharad Kumar said the decision has come at a good time as land is critical for airport expansion. Online applications for transfer of 16.89 acres of defence land to the AAI is awaiting nod from the Ministry of Defence.
According to Sharad Kumar, the fuel farm located inside the airport will now be translocated and the land will be converted into apron parking bays for the Code ‘C’ aircraft. The AAI plans to set up eight parking bays. Chennai Airport, one of the biggest in India in terms of traffic is located on 1,317 acres of land, a relatively smaller area compared to other major airports in India.
Of the 93 acres of land required, nearly 83 acres involves State government land. These include 50 acres of land in Manapakkam, 30 acres in Kolapakkam and 2.98 acres in Cowl Bazaar. It is learnt that 16.65 acres of land owned by the State government is required for a simple approach lighting system (SALS) for the extended secondary runway and another 56.77 acres of land is required for construction of hangars and fuel farm.