Like Ahmedabad, Surat airport to be leased out to private players under NMP

Surat (Gujarat): Surat airport is soon going to be leased out to a private player for effective operations, management, and development on a long-term lease basis under the Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Surat and Vadodara airports will follow in the footsteps of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, which is leased out to the Adani group on a long-term lease basis.

VK Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha said as many as 25 airports operated by the AAI will be leased over the financial year 2022-2025 under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).

The 25 airports under the NMP are: Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun, and Rajahmundry airports operated by the AAI. The ministry has earmarked for leasing over the years 2022 to 2025.

Singh, further informed that AAI has so far leased out eight of its airports under Public Private Partnership (PPP) for operation, management, and development on a long-term lease basis.

The airports leased by AAI so far include Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, Mangaluru International Airport, Jaipur International Airport and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

The minister said that the airports of AAI are leased out in the public interest for their better management, utilizing private sector efficiency and investment.

States and passengers are the ultimate beneficiaries of enhanced airport infrastructure and facilities created by the private partner, who operates, manages, and develops the leased airport under PPP, he added.

Airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have a multiplier effect on the economy of the state.

The revenue received by AAI from the leased airports is also utilized in the development of airport infrastructure across the country.