Thiruvananthapuram: The Central Government announced that two main airports in the country, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, and Guwahati will be operated in the PPP ( Public-Private Partnership) model. The Union Ministry has rejected Kerala’s demand for the operation of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport. It was also decided to hand over the management to a private company.
“The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports, of Airports Authority of India (AAI), through Public-Private Partnership,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said during the press briefing.
The development comes a day after Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that he will present a proposal before the Union Cabinet about the privatization of airports across the country.
The Thiruvananthapuram Airport will be run by Adani Group. The state government had planned to form a company to take over the management of the airport. Meanwhile, AK Antony protested against the move to hand over the Thiruvananthapuram airport to a private company. Antony said protests against the central government’s move to sell off strategic public sector undertakings under Covid’s cover should be strong.
The central government had earlier decided to privatize the Thiruvananthapuram airport. But the state government came out against it. But despite this, the central government is handing over the airport to a private company.
Earlier, the Center had awarded a 50-year contract for the operation and development of six airports in the country, including Thiruvananthapuram. Depending on the number of passengers, the contractor must pay a fee to the Airport Authority. Users will have the power to charge a user fee. However, state government sources had earlier said that privatization would not be allowed and that steps had been taken to make the airport available under Tial anyway.
