World-class airports in India:Modi can limit the number of airports that the bidder can obtain under the PPP model

Adani companies managed by Gautam Adani emerged as the highest bidder for the operation, management and development of the six profit-making airports owned by the Indian Airports Authority (AAI) in February 2019.

Following the successful display of the Adani Group's six government airports for sale, the Ministry of Civil Aviation can restrict the number of airports the operator can obtain under the PPP model in the next round. In the final stage of privatization, the government relaxed the bidding conditions, allowing companies without prior experience in airport development to participate in the bidding process.

Adani companies operated by Gautam Adani emerged as the highest bidder for the operation, management and development of the six profit-making airports owned by the India Airport Authority (AAI) in February 2019. While Adanis received the award speech for Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mangalore Airports, gestures are still expected The Cabinet of Guwahati, Jaipur and Tiruvananthapuram Airports.

FE was informed on 26 July that AAI could rent airports in Varanasi, Calicut, Patna, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Coimbatore, Trichy, Indore and Raipur. The ministry plans to call for expressions of interest for sale by the end of 2019. These facilities saw traffic between 1.57-4.15 million passengers in fiscal year 19. Unlike the last round, the list of potential privatizations includes units with losses such as Indore and Raipur.

 While GMR Group has airports in Delhi and Hyderabad and has acquired development rights for Mopa and  Bhogapuram facilities, JVK Group manages Mumbai airport and is developing a new airport in Navi Mumbai. Fairfax India Holdings, owned by Prem Watsa, manages Bangalore airport.

A total of 10 companies, including foreign entities such as Autostrade, AMP Capital Investors (UK), Mauritius-based I Investments, and the National Sovereign Wealth Fund for Investment and Infrastructure (IFRS). A senior government official said the government wants to have more operators in the airport development sector because in the last round only Adani broke the monopoly of GMR and GVK.

“The Ministry has received many suggestions on improvements in the sale of airports under the PPP model. In the next round, we might consider limiting the number of airports that the bidder can get. This would ensure more operators in the sector.

Other proposals include a longer period of sales and an increase in the financial limit of participating bidders.
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