The government's decision to allow private parties to develop airports for public and private use has opened a Pandora's Box.
Two private airport projects —- in Durgapur (West Bengal) and Bokaro (Jharkhand) —- are in the final stages of getting the go-ahead from the civil aviation ministry and the policy announcement last night is a shot in the arm for both.
They envisage investment by private developers with no role for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Till now, all airports in the country have been either solely operated by the AAI or in partnership with private developers, but there was no scope for airports built and operated by only private developers.
Now, all proposals for private airports, airstrips and helipads for private use can be cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) itself and would not require any Cabinet approval.
According to the DGCA website, more than 15 airstrips/airports are currently operational for private use. The approvals to them were given years back when the DGCA was the deciding authority.
An independent airport consultant, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that such a model — private airports for private and public use — is followed in many countries. He said the Sydney airport in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand are privately owned where civilian flights operate.
Raj Shekhar Agrawal, director of Bengal Aeritropolis Project, which is building what is most likely to become the country's first privately owned airport at Durgapur in West Bengal, says the company has already received two-stage clearances from the government.
"Only one final clearance is left. We are executing the project in partnership with Singapore's Changi International Airport. Construction would begin as soon as the final approval is received," Agrawal said.
This project envisages an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and the airport would be spread over 650 acres.
Besides Changi, Townland Consultants Ltd of Hong Kong is also an advisor to this project and Agarwal says with the policy boost this project would now speed up.
Official sources said many private players have already sought permission to set up airports and airstrips for their own use.
"Yes, there are a few proposals with us," said K.Gohain, joint director, DGCA, told DNA Money. He did not elaborate.
Sources said these include the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, the country's largest hospital, and the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pune.
The Sahara Group's Aamby project near Pune and the Vedanta Aluminium's project in Orissa have also sought to build and operate a private airportairstrip each.
Reliance Industries, which is coming up with a mega special economic zone in Jhajjar, Haryana, has already petitioned the government for permission to set up a cargo airport, which would be used by the company as well as others needing to transport cargo.
A company official said it is still not clear whether the airport would have any state government participation but the Haryana government is already a partner with RIL in the special economic zone project so this possibility cannot be ruled out.
"After the announcement last night, things should move fast on the cargo airport," the official said.
Amit Mittal, general manager, India, for aircraft leasing company Veling, says the liberalisation of airport infrastructure would help connect smaller towns and cities and take the load off large airports in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.
According a circular issued by the civil aviation ministry on Friday, these private airports would take off load from the existing airports grappling with the congestion problem.
As per the statistics provided by the ministry, the number of private aircraft in the country has shot up by 139% since December 1997 from 96 to 229 aircraft in September 2007.
The use of non-scheduled aircraft has also jumped up 326% from 46 to 196 aircraft in the same period, while government and miscellaneous aircraft use has risen 51% from 247 to 373.
"The increased number of aircraft for privatenon-scheduled use also places additional burden on the existing airports to provide them infrastructure facilities for parking, maintenance etc," the statement said.
But Kapil Kaul, CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, says don't expect things to ease anytime soon.
"Only over the next few years, as more and more private airports are built will the situation at the metro airports improve," he said.
Kaul estimates that the cost of constructing a small airport with a landing facility for 50-seater ATR would be $10-15 million, while a greenfield airport for bigger aircraft would be at least $2-3 billion.
Kaul says the opportunity would be used by large special economic zone operators to set up logistics and passenger terminals. It would also be very useful for retailers to secure supply of cargo.
Two private airport projects —- in Durgapur (West Bengal) and Bokaro (Jharkhand) —- are in the final stages of getting the go-ahead from the civil aviation ministry and the policy announcement last night is a shot in the arm for both.
They envisage investment by private developers with no role for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Till now, all airports in the country have been either solely operated by the AAI or in partnership with private developers, but there was no scope for airports built and operated by only private developers.
Now, all proposals for private airports, airstrips and helipads for private use can be cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) itself and would not require any Cabinet approval.
According to the DGCA website, more than 15 airstrips/airports are currently operational for private use. The approvals to them were given years back when the DGCA was the deciding authority.
An independent airport consultant, who did not wish to be named, pointed out that such a model — private airports for private and public use — is followed in many countries. He said the Sydney airport in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand are privately owned where civilian flights operate.
Raj Shekhar Agrawal, director of Bengal Aeritropolis Project, which is building what is most likely to become the country's first privately owned airport at Durgapur in West Bengal, says the company has already received two-stage clearances from the government.
"Only one final clearance is left. We are executing the project in partnership with Singapore's Changi International Airport. Construction would begin as soon as the final approval is received," Agrawal said.
This project envisages an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and the airport would be spread over 650 acres.
Besides Changi, Townland Consultants Ltd of Hong Kong is also an advisor to this project and Agarwal says with the policy boost this project would now speed up.
Official sources said many private players have already sought permission to set up airports and airstrips for their own use.
"Yes, there are a few proposals with us," said K.Gohain, joint director, DGCA, told DNA Money. He did not elaborate.
Sources said these include the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, the country's largest hospital, and the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pune.
The Sahara Group's Aamby project near Pune and the Vedanta Aluminium's project in Orissa have also sought to build and operate a private airportairstrip each.
Reliance Industries, which is coming up with a mega special economic zone in Jhajjar, Haryana, has already petitioned the government for permission to set up a cargo airport, which would be used by the company as well as others needing to transport cargo.
A company official said it is still not clear whether the airport would have any state government participation but the Haryana government is already a partner with RIL in the special economic zone project so this possibility cannot be ruled out.
"After the announcement last night, things should move fast on the cargo airport," the official said.
Amit Mittal, general manager, India, for aircraft leasing company Veling, says the liberalisation of airport infrastructure would help connect smaller towns and cities and take the load off large airports in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.
According a circular issued by the civil aviation ministry on Friday, these private airports would take off load from the existing airports grappling with the congestion problem.
As per the statistics provided by the ministry, the number of private aircraft in the country has shot up by 139% since December 1997 from 96 to 229 aircraft in September 2007.
The use of non-scheduled aircraft has also jumped up 326% from 46 to 196 aircraft in the same period, while government and miscellaneous aircraft use has risen 51% from 247 to 373.
"The increased number of aircraft for privatenon-scheduled use also places additional burden on the existing airports to provide them infrastructure facilities for parking, maintenance etc," the statement said.
But Kapil Kaul, CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, says don't expect things to ease anytime soon.
"Only over the next few years, as more and more private airports are built will the situation at the metro airports improve," he said.
Kaul estimates that the cost of constructing a small airport with a landing facility for 50-seater ATR would be $10-15 million, while a greenfield airport for bigger aircraft would be at least $2-3 billion.
Kaul says the opportunity would be used by large special economic zone operators to set up logistics and passenger terminals. It would also be very useful for retailers to secure supply of cargo.
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