Dependence on Left stalled privatisation of 2 airports

New Delhi: The government could have considered modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports earlier through the private-led joint venture (Public-private participation) model had not the UPA government been dependent on the Left for support earlier, highly-placed civil aviation ministry sources have said. Sources said that the UPA government could have even considered privatisation of loss-making state-owned carrier Air India earlier, but did not do so since it was dependent on the Left for support. However, despite the fact that the UPA government is not dependent on the support of the Left now, sources said that the government is not likely to consider the aforementioned issues now.
"This is because of some factors. The modernisation process of Kolkata and Chennai airports by the state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already started. Further, there are only a few months left for the government’s tenure to be completed," highly-placed ministry sources said.
But ministry sources pointed out that the UPA government had gone ahead with modernisation of the New Delhi and Mumbai airports through private participation earlier, despite the fact that the Left was opposed to involvement of private companies in the modernisation process.
23/07/08 Howrah News Service

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Categories: Airports Jul 2008