AAI approves privatisation of 13 more airports

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has approved the privatisation of 13 more airports by 2022, including six major airports and seven smaller airports that will be merged with the larger ones, just days after the government announced its ambitious asset monetisation plan. Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Indore, Raipur, Trichy, and Varanasi are among the six major airports in the country. Hubli, Tirupati, Aurangabad, Jabalpur, Kangra, Kushinagar, and Gaya are among the smaller ones that will be combined with the larger ones. By March 2024, the government anticipates a private investment of around Rs 3,700 crore in the airport. Varanasi will be clubbed with Kushinagar and Gaya, Amritsar with Kangra, Bhubaneswar with Tirupati, Raipur with Aurangabad, Indore with Jabalpur, and Trichy with Hubli, according to the media. AAI will now begin the process of preparing bid documents in order to repeat the process next year. The Buddhist circuit of Varanasi-Kushinagar-Gaya is likely to pique bidders' interest due to the tourism potential of these cities, aside from Varanasi being a major destination in and of itself. Smaller airports have been grouped with larger ones for the first time while opting for the PPP model, in which a private player develops and expands airports on a revenue-share basis while the government retains ownership. Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Mangaluru are among the airports that have been developed and run under the PPP model so far. The Adani Group intends to take over Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram airports, as well as build Navi Mumbai Airport. These airports were all privatised separately. The Mumbai Airport promoter is granted the right to construct Navi Mumbai Airport. Image Source Also read: Lok Sabha passes AERA bill on airport privatisation Also read: Deloitte appointed as consultant for Nagpur airport privatisation