Sector Watch: Delaying airport privatisation

AAI employees union, however, is opposed to privatisation process fearing massive retrenchment. They also think that the privatisation process will impact AAI’s revenues.

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The airports have already seen a public investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

State-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has again extended the deadline for submitting bids for management contracts of four airports at Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Chennai further delaying their privatisation process.

Private players can now submit their applications for short-listing till July 1. The AAI, which invited ‘Request for Qualification (RFQ)’ to handover the management, operations and development of the state-controlled airports in Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur last year, had previously extended the date for submitting the bids from March 24 to May 26.

The AAI had last time pushed the date on the grounds that it wanted to sort out manpower related issues prior to transferring these airports to concessionaires. The airports have already seen a public investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

AAI employees union, however, is opposed to privatisation process fearing massive retrenchment. They also think that the privatisation process will impact AAI’s revenues.

As many as eight companies including GMR Airports, GVK Group, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited, Siemens Postal Parcel & Airport Logistics Pvt Ltd and International Business Development Flughafen Zurich AG Postfrach have evinced interest in bidding for the privatisation programme of the Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports. Others in the fray are Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt Ltd, Flemingo Duty Free Shop Pvt Ltd and Bhadra International (India) Pvt Ltd, informed government sources.

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