Private parties to develop airports in India - by mevivek007
The Indian government 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 is a shot in the arm for both.
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.
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.
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.