Airports bid hits polls air pocket
The process of privatisation of the operation and management of six airports has been deferred.
New Delhi: The process of privatisation of the operation and management of six airports of the state run Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been deferred on the orders of the Election Commission till the completion of the Lok Sabha poll process, civil aviation ministry sources said.
The six airports are Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati and Ahmedabad. The civil aviation ministry received the EC order on March 21.
Sources said the civil aviation ministry had earlier asked the poll panel whether it could go ahead with the Public Private Participation (PPP) model for the six airports. The matter was referred to the EC when the model code of conduct was enforced.
“The EC has taken the view that the PPP process should be deferred till the completion of the poll process. The new government in place at the Centre in May will now take a final decision on the pro-cess once the elections are over,” top ministry sources told this newspaper.
The AAI has now extended the deadline for receipt of the request for qualification (RFQ) from the consortia in contention to bag the contract to operate and manage these six airports.
The process of privatisation of operation and management of the six airports has evoked stiff opposition from the AAI Employees Union, which has demanded that the AAI should continue to operate and manage these six airports.
However, the UPA-2 has been steadfast in supporting the implementation of the PPP model for these six AAI airports.