Privatisation of Airports: Ministry of Civil Aviation to Present Proposal to Union Cabinet on Wednesday – India.com

New Delhi: In a move to further privatise the airports across the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation will present its proposal before the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. An announcement to this effect was made by Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday. Also Read - International Flight Updates: India Negotiating With 13 Countries to Establish Air Bubbles, Says Aviation Minister Puri

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 on Tuesday. Also Read - Dubai-Kozhikode Plane Crash: Air India Pilot Unions Seek Meeting With Aviation Minister Over Flight Safety

The development comes as the aviation sector has been worst affected by to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also Read - Kerala Air Crash: 'Unhappy' With DGCA Chief's Remarks, Pilot Unions Seek His 'Immediate Replacement' From Post

Puri said that the airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati were cleared for operation, management and development through public-private partnership (PPP) model in February 2019. This happened in the first round of privatisation under the Narendra Modi dispensation.

In September 2019, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had recommended the Civil Aviation Ministry to privatise airports in Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy.

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

Moreover, the Central government had in 2018 decided to privatise the airports in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati.

Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run these six airports after a competitive bidding process in February 2019. Adani Enterprises signed the concessionaire agreement with the AAI for three airports Ahmedabad, Mangaluru and Lucknow on February 14, 2020.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Privatisation of Airports: Ministry of Civil Aviation to Present Proposal to Union Cabinet on Wednesday - India.com