Chennai, Kolkata off list of six airports to be privatised

NEW DELHI: Kolkata and Chennai air ports, upg raded by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at sizable costs, are likely to be dropped off from the list of government-owned airports that are to be privatised.

“As of now, it appears, that only four airports will be privatised as lots of money had been spent on upgrading Kolkata and Chennai airports,” a ministry official said.

AAI recently modernised Kolkata and Chennai airports for ` 2,325 crore and ` 2,015 crore, respectively, and also upgraded the infrastructure at the remaining four airports at significant costs.

Six AAI-run airports had been shortlisted by the previous government for privatisation. These included the Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jodhpur and Guwahati airports.

AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA HAS ALREADY SPENT OVER R 4,300 CR TO UPGRADE THE TWO AIRPORTS

However, as reported by HT in September, the Prime Minister’s Office was in favour of privatising only four airports.

AAI employee unions have also strongly opposed the move to privatise the airports.

“Privatising Kolkata and Chennai airports after spending close to a billion dollars on upg rading them would have been a sheer wastage of taxpayer’s money,” said Rajji Rai, chairman, Swift Travel International Ltd.

Even West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee, in a letter to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had voiced her opposition to the plan and said it should be reconsidered.