Govt faces flak over airport upgrade by private companies

NEW DELHI: The parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture has found fault with the Manmohan Singh government���s decision to entrust the task of modernisation of 35 non-metro airports to private players. The move, it maintained, was in violation of stand taken on the issue the committee of infrastructure, which is headed by the prime minister himself.

The infrastructure committee, at its 12th meeting held on June 8, 2006, had ruled that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would be handed over the task of the airport-side development, including the terminal building, of the 35 airports located outside the four metros, while the city-side development will be undertaken through private public partnership.

The parliamentary panel noted that the inter-ministerial group, headed by the civil aviation secretary had overturned the decision. ``Now IMG has suggested that the commercial operations in the terminal building will be done through PPP.

It decided that the scope of the project���s work would include commercial operation and maintenance of the terminal building, development and operation of cargo and real estate development on the land identified for the purpose.
On the basis of this decision, the Planning Commission has prepared a PPP Model Concession Agreement for the terminal buildings, stretching to 30 years,������ the standing committee pointed out.

The parliamentary panel, which is headed by CPM polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury, tabled its report in Parliament on Thursday. It asked the PMO to come clean on the issue, arguing that the IMG stand was a deviation from the decision taken earlier by the committee of infrastructure.

``Commercial operation of terminal buildings is a profit-making activity, which would have generated revenues for AAI to spend on developing airside operations,������ the standing committee said in its report, and recommended that the airport-side development, including the commercial use of terminal buildings, should be entrusted to AAI.