Indian government intends to lease 3 airports in Andhra Pradesh.
Examine the latest move by the central government, which intends to lease out three airports in Andhra Pradesh, paving the way for private sector participation.
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Vijayawada: Vijayawada, Tirupati and Rajamahendravaram airports in Andhra Pradesh will be given on lease for better maintenance and profitability as part of National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
AAI has identified 25 airports for leasing over 2022-2025, including three in AP
Currently, 14 airports are under operation under the PPP model
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has previously leased out 8 airports
The Centre is of the view that leasing out of Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports will ensure better management as the States and passengers to get benefited due to enhanced infrastructure and facilities with the involvement of a private investor to operate, manage and develop to facilitate multiplier effect on the economy.
A greenfield airport is being developed at Bhogapuram near here by entrusting the job to GMR Group to commission the first phase in next two years with an investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. Once the new airport launches handling flights, the existing airport at Visakhapatnam, a civil enclave existing on INS Dega airpstation of the Indian Navy may stop receiving commercial flights.
AAI has identified 25 airports including three in Andhra Pradesh for leasing over 2022-2025, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Road Transport and Highways General (retd) VK Singh in response to a question by Congress MP Mukul Balakrishna Wasnik informed the Upper House that the government has earmarked 25 AAI airports for leasing by 2025.
At present, 14 airports are under operation under Public Private Partnership (PPP) route. The list of 25 airports identified for leasing under NMP include Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajamahendravaram (Rajahmundry). The Ministry of Civil Aviation earlier leased out eight airports which included Delhi, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Lucknow and Thiruvananthapuram. These are being operated under PPP on a long-term lease basis.Incidentally, Delhi and Mumbai were leased out in 2006. According to the government, during five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22, AAI had received revenues of approximately Rs.5,500 crore from Delhi Airport and Rs.5,174 crore from Mumbai Airport. Till February, 2023, AAI had received concession fees of approximately Rs.896 crore from the concessionaires for six airports. AAI had also received an amount of approximately Rs.2349 crore in the form of upfront fee towards the capital expenditure incurred at these airports.
