Only four AAI-run airports are likely to be privatised, instead of six

NEW DELHI: The ministry of civil aviation may have announced plans to privatise six prime airports in the country but the Prime Minister’s Office wants only four Airports Authority of India-run airports to be privatised this financial year.

The “Record of Discussions” held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with secretaries of various ministries including aviation, railways, and road on July 26 and accessed by HT lists only four airports for award of operation, maintenance and development projects under public private partnership in 2014-15. The aviation ministry had set the ball rolling for six airports – Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jodhpur and Guwahati. While sources said Kolkata and Chennai airports may not be handed over to private players, the aviation ministry officials said no final decision has been taken yet. The AAI has recently modernised Kolkata and Chennai airports at a cost ` 2,325 crore and ` 2,015 crore respectively and had also upgraded the infrastructure at the remaining four airports.

The AAI employee unions have questioned the logic of privatising prime airports after thousands of crores have been spent on modernising. “What was the point of spending so much when you had to hand airports to private parties? It seems public private partnership has come to mean using public money for private profit,” said an AAI employee.