Airports Authority of India (AAI) will privatise terminal management at the Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports by this fiscal for which proposals have already been invited from the interested parties.
“We essentially are trying to handover terminal management of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airport to a private operator. There we are expecting to relocate all our manpower and existing equipment,” said AAI Chairman Guruprasad Mohaptara.
“This move involves relocation of workforce and equipment also and the terminal operations at the two airports would be handed over to private players,” added Mohaptara.
State run AAI had earlier discussed handing over the operations of both these airports to Singapore’s Changi Airport after an MoU was signed between the two Governments during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in November 2015 but the deal did not work out.
Further explaining Mohapatara said AAI had invited Request for Proposal (RFP) from bidders for operation and maintenance of select areas of the Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports late last year and the process of partial privatisation is expected to be completed by March.
The bids are to be opened on March 8. “Private player will be able to manage and operate terminal management for a period of 15 years,” he informed.
The select areas include passenger terminal building, including the airport operations control centre, fire control room, kerb side approach road and passenger boarding bridges, apron area, including provision of ground handling services through approved ground handling and surface car park, among others, as per the bid document.
The bidder will be chosen on twin basis of offering lowest cost for managing the terminal and offering highest revenue to the AAI by maximising the commercial potential of the terminals through areas like food and beverage and retail sales.
Mohapatara also said the AAI would be holding a pre-bid meet with all stakeholders on the issue next month.
AAI has already given control of the Delhi and Mumbai airports to private operators a decade ago, the airports it managed in Bangalore and Hyderabad were shut down as new ones were built by private operators.