Govt to set up airport regulatory body

The Government will constitute an airport economic regulatory authority (AERA) on the pattern of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (...

The Government will constitute an airport economic regulatory authority (AERA) on the pattern of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). This was announced by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel while replying to a discussion on a motion on developing Mumbai and Delhi airports in the Lok Sabha today.

Patel said the ministry would soon approach the Cabinet with a proposal and introduce a bill in Parliament later to put the authority in place. The minister said, ‘‘Infrastructure also needs to go hand-in-hand with regulatory issues.’’ The directorate-general of civil aviation (DGCA), in his view, needed to being strengthened.

Regarding modernisation, he said public private partnership (PPP) was essential in civil aviation, telecom, roads and ports. Input requirements for the development of infrastructure can not be completely met by the Government.

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His ministry, according to Patel, was preparing a broad civil aviation policy. Both Indian Airlines and Air-India had been neglected so far. However, the Government had cleared a proposal for acquiring new planes to meet the growing demand.

He said 25 new destinations would be identified all over the country to expand air connectivity. Jaipur airport would be declared international by 2006, while several other airports like Bodh Gaya, Patna and Udaipur would also be developed. He said some ‘‘400 airports would have to be developed in the long run.’’

Patel said a new aviation academy would be established at Gondia in his erstwhile Lok Sabha constituency, Bhandara, in Maharashtra while the capacity of the Indira Gandhi Uran Academy at Fursatganj would be doubled to 100.

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