Airport sector to see Rs 1 lakh crore investment in the next five years

NEW DELHI :The airport sector in India is set to see an investment of about Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of five years.

The investments would be made in upgrading existing infrastructure at airports and also building greenfield airports by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and private airport companies.

“To ensure an infrastructure to facilitate a billion trips, there is going to be an investment of Rs 5 to 6 lakh crore. In the next five years, we will see an investment of about Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of five years,” aviation minister Jayant Sinha told reporters today.

Today the Union cabinet approved upgrade of existing airports in the cities of Chennai, Lucknow and Guwahati.

These projects will be implemented by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at a cost of over Rs 5,082 crore. “Of the total amount, about 60% will be raised from the debt market and the rest will be from our funds. We will be following the same principle for the next five years too and raise about 60% of the Rs 21,000 crore to be invested by us in the next five years,” AAI Chairman G P Mohapatra said.