Union Cabinet approves proposal to lease out 3 AAI airports through Public-Private Partnership

Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out three airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) through Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The three airports approved are Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram.


Privatisation of airports

Union Cabinet on August 19, Wednesday, approved the proposal for leasing out three airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) through Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The three airports approved are Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram, said Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Jitendra Singh while briefing the media on the cabinet decisions.

The Modi government had earlier decided to privatise operations of 12 airports of the Airport Authority of India (AAI). The decision to privatise six airports of Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaipur was taken in the first phase.

Adani Enterprises got all these airports after a competitive bidding process in February 2019. The Group signed the concessionaire agreement with the AAI for three airports - Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, and Lucknow - on February 14, 2020. However, it is yet to sign the concessionaire agreement for the other three airports.

The entire bidding process was carried out under the directions of Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) which comprised of representatives of NITI Aayog, Department of Expenditure and Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that the ministry will place a proposal for "further" privatisation of airports before the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. 

"We are going to the Cabinet tomorrow for further airport privatisation. We have got many more airports lined up, dozens of them, and the 100 new airports we will build between now and 2030," Puri said during a webinar.

The Airports Authority of India, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, owns and manages more than 100 airports across the country.