Which are the airports being privatised?, Pg12

Key Highlights:

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has proposed the third round of airport privatization, covering 11 airports in 5 bundled groups, to the PPPAC for approval.
• The five bundles include airports at Amritsar, Kangra, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Gaya, Bhubaneswar, Hubli, Raipur, Aurangabad, Tiruchi, and Tirupati.
• The government aims to launch the tender process by March 2026, following PPPAC appraisal and Union Cabinet approval.
• The privatization of 25 airports is part of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), targeting ₹20,782 crore by leasing brownfield infrastructure assets.
• Airport privatization in India began in 2003, with subsequent rounds in 2006 and 2019.

Detailed Insights:

• The third round focuses on airports handling 0.1-1 million passengers annually, selected based on traffic growth projections and investment needs.
• The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), launched in August 2021, aims to raise ₹6 lakh crore through brownfield asset leasing between FY22 and FY25.
• Concerns exist regarding the potential for monopolies in the airport sector, as seen with the Adani Group acquiring multiple airports.
• Rising costs for airlines and passengers post-privatization are a concern, exemplified by increased User Development Fees (UDF) at Thiruvananthapuram Airport.
• The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is moving towards evaluating airports on service delivery benchmarks, with penalties for non-compliance.
• The government aims to build 50 new airports in the next five years to meet rising demand, targeting a combined passenger-handling capacity of 550 million passengers per annum (mppa) by FY26.
• The Asset Monetisation Plan 2025-30 aims to plough back ₹10 lakh crore.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Privatization: Transfer of ownership, property, or business from the government to the private sector.
• National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP): Government initiative to unlock value from public infrastructure assets.
• User Development Fee (UDF): Fee charged to passengers as part of the airfare for airport development.
• PPPAC (Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee): Committee that evaluates and approves public-private partnership projects.