Govt clears running Jaipur, Guwahati & T’puram airports PPP way for 50 years

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday approved leasing out of Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram airports through public-private partnership (PPP) for 50 years, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet. Aviation minister HS Puri tweeted, “PPP at these airports will not only help in delivery of efficient and quality services to the air passengers but will also help Airports Authority of India [AAI] in enhancing its revenues and focussing on developing more airports at tier-II and III places.”
In 2018, the Adani Group had emerged as the highest bidder for six AAI-run airports — Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy — for operating them in PPP format for 50 years like the ones in Delhi and Mumbai. This February following a Cabinet nod, the Adani Group had signed agreements for operating Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airports with AAI.
Now with the Cabinet nod coming for the remaining three — Jaipur, Trivandrum and Guwahati — their PPP process will also go forward now. The Adani Group has deferred taking over the airports it got through bidding process till later this year for some time due to the pandemic’s impact on the overall economy.