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Airports lease: Contracts likely by year-end

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Jan. 18

THE Government hopes to be in a position to award contracts for long-term leasing of the four international airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta by the end of the year, the Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, Mr. N.K. Singh, said here to day.

Addressing a press conference along with the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr. K.C. Pant, after a meeting of the `Task force on Infrastructure', Mr. Singh said the Government plans to float tenders for the four airports by August-September to be able to award the contracts by year-end.

Mr. Pant said that the Government proposed to move whatever amendments were required to the Airports Authority of India Act, to allow long-term leasing of airports during the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.

The Union Cabinet had, on January 12, cleared the proposal to amend the AAI Act, 1994, thereby paving the way for the Ministry of Civil Aviation to initiate procedures for framing guidelines for leasing of the four airports. Though the exact lease period was not decided by the Cabinet, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Information Technology, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, had said after the Cabinet meeting that it was likely to vary between 30-59 years.

Besides, the interest shown by private sector parties and some foreign countries in airports such as Gaya and Nagpur will also be examined by the Government. Officials said that the Governments of Thailand and Japan had shown some interest in the Gaya an d Nagpur airports.

Mr. Pant said the Government hoped to appoint legal and financial consultants for the leasing of the airports within a month and will be consulting the Law Ministry in this regard. ``The consultants have already been shortlisted and their appointments sh ould not take too long,'' Mr. Pant said.

He added that the Centre will also talk with the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra Governments to thrash out any difficulties which may arise on account of resettlement and rehabilitation of people in the course of leasing out of these airports.

He added that another meeting of the task force will be held in the next three weeks to look into the question of a regulatory authority for the civil aviation sector, the Civil Aviation Authority.