BS Reporter / New Delhi February 6, 2007
To overcome hurdles in land acquisition for airport projects, the government is planning to allow private players to build airports on their own land.
“To increase connectivity, the government will set up merchant greenfield airports, which will be private airports built on privately owned lands, within permissible civil aviation parameters,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
This, he said, would solve the problem of land acquisition, which was a major hurdle to infrastructure projects in the country.
The Jindal group recently opened its Jindal Vijayanagar airport, that had been operating as a private airstrip since 1997, for commercial operations.
Apart from Air Deccan, which operates daily flights connecting Bangalore and Goa with Vijayanagar, Kingfisher Airlines has shown interest in operating flights connecting Mumbai, Hubli and Vijaynagar.
The civil aviation ministry is also negotiating with state governments to develop some of the 300 airstrips to provide better regional connectivity. The government, which is considering imposing a cess to fund economically unviable airports, is expecting investment of $50-70 billion in the sector in the next ten years.
“Due to the unprecedented growth in the civil aviation sector, we would need secondary airports in non-metro cities for the next 5-10 years. The aviation sector in India has the potential of growing by 25 per cent annually in the next ten years. In 2006 alone, the growth was 50 per cent. This has created the need for urgent and immediate growth in infrastructure,” Patel said. He added that public-private-partnerships can help build infrastructure in shortest possible time.
The government is also considering regulatory control over the civil aviation sector. The Bill for setting up an airport economic regulatory authority would be introduced in Parliament in the Budget session, he said. The authority is expected to be in place by the end of the year.
Patel said a proposal to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in helicopter and sea-plane operations, charters, air-cargo and non-scheduled air operations and in maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities has been moved for Cabinet’s consideration.
“To increase connectivity, the government will set up merchant greenfield airports, which will be private airports built on privately owned lands, within permissible civil aviation parameters,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
This, he said, would solve the problem of land acquisition, which was a major hurdle to infrastructure projects in the country.
The Jindal group recently opened its Jindal Vijayanagar airport, that had been operating as a private airstrip since 1997, for commercial operations.
Apart from Air Deccan, which operates daily flights connecting Bangalore and Goa with Vijayanagar, Kingfisher Airlines has shown interest in operating flights connecting Mumbai, Hubli and Vijaynagar.
The civil aviation ministry is also negotiating with state governments to develop some of the 300 airstrips to provide better regional connectivity. The government, which is considering imposing a cess to fund economically unviable airports, is expecting investment of $50-70 billion in the sector in the next ten years.
“Due to the unprecedented growth in the civil aviation sector, we would need secondary airports in non-metro cities for the next 5-10 years. The aviation sector in India has the potential of growing by 25 per cent annually in the next ten years. In 2006 alone, the growth was 50 per cent. This has created the need for urgent and immediate growth in infrastructure,” Patel said. He added that public-private-partnerships can help build infrastructure in shortest possible time.
The government is also considering regulatory control over the civil aviation sector. The Bill for setting up an airport economic regulatory authority would be introduced in Parliament in the Budget session, he said. The authority is expected to be in place by the end of the year.
Patel said a proposal to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in helicopter and sea-plane operations, charters, air-cargo and non-scheduled air operations and in maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities has been moved for Cabinet’s consideration.
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