Political concerns push Chennai airport out of private ambit

New Delhi: Private companies’ ambition to modernise the Chennai airport on the lines of similar projects in Delhi and Mumbai has fallen flat following a political veto by the Tamil Nadu government which has forced the Centre to shift its preference to the old state monopoly, the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The modernisation project, expected to be completed by 2010, is estimated to cost at least Rs. 2,350 crore, though it could be revised up further.
Sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry told Hindustan Times that the DMK government at Chennai moved to rule out private developers through a public-private partnership route for the project, which involves the restructuring of the airport which is a key hub for one of India’s fastest growing regions involving traffic that connects to South-East Asia.
The DMK in Chennai and the Left Front government in Kolkata have been ideologically opposing private sector development. The ministry was pushing for private participation in the modernization of Chennai’s airport but the DMK, which is a key partner in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition, appears to have prevailed.
08/11/07 Samiran Saha/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Airports Nov 2007