NEW DELHI, Aug 19 - Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport is being leased out to a private player under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Announcing the decision of the Union Cabinet, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar today said that the Centre has approved the proposal for leasing out three airports - Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram of Airports Authority of India (AAI).
�The Union Cabinet accorded its approval for leasing of three AAI airports namely, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram for Operation, Management and Development to Adani Enterprises Limited, after being declared as the successful bidder in a Global Competitive Bidding conducted by the Airports Authority of India, for a period of fifty years,� said Javadekar.
These projects will bring efficiency in service delivery, expertise, enterprise and professionalism apart from harnessing the needed investments in the public sector, he added.
Meanwhile, official sources said that Government had leased out the Airports Authority of India�s airports at Delhi and Mumbai on Public Private Partnership for Operation, Management and Development about a decade ago.
Revenue received from PPP mode enabled AAI to create infrastructure facilities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and also to upgrade the airports to international standards. The PPP mode airports in India are consistently ranked among the top five in their respective categories by the Airports Council International (ACI) in terms of Airport Service Quality (ASQ).
Therefore, the Government decided to lease out more airports of AAI for Operation, Management and Development under PPP mode through the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC). Government also constituted an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) to decide on any issue falling beyond the scope of PPPAC, said sources.
PPPAC approved the transaction documents. The entire bidding process was carried out under the supervision and directions of EGoS which comprised of representatives of NITI Aayog, Department of Expenditure and Department of Economic Affairs of Ministry of Finance.
