Delhi, Mumbai model development for Trivandrum airport

The Trivandrum International Airport in Kerala, along with five other airports, is to be developed in the lines of the Delhi and Mumbai airports model. The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave an “in principle” approval for operating, managing and developing six non-metro airports — Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru — under Public Private Partnership (PPP). This is expected to enhance the revenue to Airports Authority of India (AAI) and increased economic development in these areas in terms of job creation and related infrastructure.

“The PPP in airport infrastructure projects has brought World class infrastructure at airports, delivery of efficient and timely services to the airport passengers, augmenting revenue stream to the Airports Authority of India without making any investment, etc. of these, for development of Greenfield Airports at Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Presently, the airports being managed under the PPP model include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin,” said a press statement by the ministry.

The development will be done through the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC). A committee headed by NITI Aayog CEO with the Aviation Secretary, Economic Affairs Secretary and Expenditure Secretary as its members, has been set up to decide on any issue falling beyond the scope of the PPPAC.

The airport sector is the top contender among infrastructure sectors in terms of international interest. International operators and investors prefer brownfield airport expansion opportunities with having more than 3-4 million passenger capacity. The airport sector may provide an immediate opportunity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) by adoption of a PPP approach.