Bhubaneswar: The Minister of State for Civil Aviation VK Singh told Rajya Sabha that this center has approved the leasing of Biju Patnai International Airport (BPIA) Bhubaneswar for operations, management and their development through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
While answering questions to members of Rajya Sabet Kumar, the minister said the Indian Authority Airport Board (AAI) at the 190 meeting held on September 5, 2019 has approved the rental of six airports namely Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Amritsar in Punjab, Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Trichy in Tamil Nadu for management and developing their operations through PPP.
He said in 2006, AAI has hired Delhi airport in the Union Delhi region and Mumbai airport in Maharashtra for operational management and the development of these airports under PPP.
In 2018-19, six airports were again like Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Guwahati in Assam, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Mangaluru in Karnataka was awarded by AAI, he added.
Singh said the Greenfield airport policy was approved in 2018 opening the way for the development of Greenfield airport both by the government or private entity or under PPP mode.
The 2016 National Civil Aviation Policy also emphasizes airport development through the PPP route, he added.
The policy states that the Ministry of Civil Aviation will continue to encourage the development of the airport by the state government or the private sector or in PPP mode.
“Thus it became a central policy to call for investment from the private sector in the field of infrastructure including flights.
This center has provided special emphasis on airport development through personal participation,” Read Minister’s Replies.
In October 2013, the Union Cabinet had given approval to declare Bhubaneswar airport as an international airport.