Airports hold pride of place in the government's National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) programme to monetise public assets. Private airport operators, including the Adani group, Fairfax, GMR, and Zurich Airport, are expected to evince interest in the next round of public-private partnership (PPP) development of state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports. Industry analysts, however, do not expect bids to be as high as the last round, which saw the Adani group gain control of six airports.
"We are open to further opportunities to invest in India. Zurich Airport International believes in the growth and continuous maturity of the Indian aviation sector. We are following the discussions about the next round of asset monetisation closely," said Daniel Bircher, chief operating officer (CEO) of Zurich Airport International, Asia, which is developing the Noida International Airport and had developed the one in Bengaluru, which it exited in 2017.
"We are confident that AAI and the government will propose an equitable and competitive concession framework for further airport privatisation with a view to encouraging private sector investment in India's aviation sector," he added.
GMR and Adani group did not respond, and Fairfax declined comment.
Last August, the government announced its intent to sell stakes in four privately-run airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru) and lease 25 other airports owned by AAI under NMP. This programme is to be carried out between FY22 and FY25.
The following month, the AAI board cleared a proposal for the PPP development of 13 airports by pairing seven small airports with six larger ones (see table). Eight of the 13 airports have been identified in the NMP, while five - Kangra, Kushinagar, Gaya, Aurangabad, and Jabalpur - are outside of the plan.
Though the project is set to begin this financial year, the Union cabinet is still to clear the proposal.
This story is from the May 21, 2022 edition of Business Standard.
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This story is from the May 21, 2022 edition of Business Standard.
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