The Centre has kicked off the consultation process for leasing out (privatisation) more than 10 airports across the country under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, sources told businessline.
According to sources, an inter-ministerial consultation process was initiated recently, and a Cabinet note was circulated to seek the opinions and address any concerns from different ministries on the proposal.
“We have received the replies on the note and are now in the consultation phase of the process,” a source told businessline.
As per sources, the Cabinet will decide which airports will be put forth for leasing out and if any new terms and conditions will be added in the concession agreement for the upcoming round.
Regional hubs
Meanwhile, speculation is rife that airports under consideration may include key regional hubs such as Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Tiruchi.
Additionally, airports in Kushinagar, Gaya, Hubli, Aurangabadand Tirupati could also be considered for leasing out.
Besides, the Centre is contemplating bundling both profitable and non-profitable airports for the bidding process, which is expected to attract a variety of bidders, sources said.
This bundling approach, sources said, aims to ensure a “balanced and competitive” outcome.
The initiative falls under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), which seeks to tap into the private sector’s expertise to revamp and operate key assets, thereby improving passenger experience and driving economic growth.
Under the NMP, 25 airports belonging to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) were earmarked for leasing out between 2022-2025.
These included airports in Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Tiruchi, Indore, Raipur, Kozhikode, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun, and Rajahmundry.
Since 2014, AAI has leased out six of its airports for better operations, management, and development of these airports under the PPP model.
50-year lease
These airports have been leased out for a period of 50 years, with AAl remaining the owner of airport land throughout the lease period.
Accordingly, land and other assets would come back to AAl after the expiry of the lease period.
In the last round of airport leasing (privatisation) in 2019, Adani Group had won bids to operate six airports — Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram.
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Last year, while replying to a question in Parliament, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said, “Airports of AAI are leased out for their better management, utilising private sector efficiency and investment. Airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have multiplier effect on the economy of the state.”
“States and passengers are the ultimate beneficiary of enhanced airport infrastructure and facilities created by private partner, who operates, manages and develops the leased airport under PPP. The revenue received by AAI from the leased airports is also utilised for the development of airport infrastructure across the country.”