The Union government on Wednesday approved leasing out three airports – Mangaluru, Ahmedabad and Lucknow – to Adani Enterprises for operation, management and development under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model.
Under a two-stage tender process that concluded in late February, Adani Enterprises had emerged as the highest bidder for all the six airports, including Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram. The government had offered the airports on a 50-year lease for development under the PPP mode. The government is yet to approve the lease of Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports to Adani Enterprises.
The Kerala government has raised concerns over leasing out the Thiruvananthapuram airport to the company. “These projects will bring efficiency in delivery, expertise, enterprise and professionalism apart from harnessing the needed investments in the public sector,” an official spokesman said. Adani Enterprises had offered the highest “per passenger fee” for the six airports for which bids were called by the Airports Authority of India last year.
Adani Enterprises had quoted per passenger fee of Rs 174 for the Jaipur airport, Rs 177 for Ahmedabad, Rs 115 for Mangaluru.