PPP model to give wings to 300 airports

New Delhi: In a bid to provide world-class airport infrastructure, the government is planning to offer over 300 airports and airstrips to private players for development through the public-private partnership (PPP) model and other methods. Apart from commercial use, the airstrips would also be used for providing training to pilots.
“We are waiting for the Cabinet approval for the civil aviation policy. Once the policy is in place, we will aggressively market the airports for development on PPP basis,” a senior government official said.
One mining company has asked us to give Jharsuguda airport to them for development. The modalities are, however, yet to be finalised, the official said.
The government is investing Rs 41,000 crore for the modernisation and expansion of the country’s 35 non-metro airports.
The civil aviation ministry is also in talks with the military to open defence airports to civil aircraft. The ministry is talking to several state governments to revive unused airports in their states.
02/08/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Categories: Airports Aug 2007, New Aug 2007