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New Delhi, Oct 5: In a virtual volte face, the civil aviation ministry has now said the Airport Authority of India (AAI) will carry out the proposed modernisation of Kolkata airport out of its internal accruals and borrowings, and without private funds.
In a note sent to other ministries, including the finance ministry, the aviation ministry said the modernisation would commence with the construction of international departure building, which is estimated to cost Rs 225 crore.
The initial plan was to tie up private funds for modernising Kolkata and Chennai airports, using the public-private-partnership (PPP) funding model. It is estimated that the modernisation of the two airports will cost Rs 5,700 crore.
Modernisation programmes of the Delhi and Mumbai airports were kicked off, with the award of contracts to the GMR-Fraport combine, and the GVK group in alliance with South Africa airports, respectively. The cost of modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports is estimated to be Rs 11,000 crore.
The civil aviation ministry has already said the 35 non-metro airports in the country would also be modernised. These projects, it said, would be funded from the AAI’s own resources and borrowings. Official sources, however, said the ministry was now considering using the PPP route for eight of these projects.
