"The corporatisation will be along the lines of that of MTNL. Each corporatised airport will be a separate entity which will be covered by the Companies Act of 1956. The move will help the airports raise equity" said civil aviation minister Ananth Kumar while addressing a press conference in the capital.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will appoint an international consultant, along with an Indian partner, to oversee the corporatisation plan. The first airport will be corporatised within a year.

The consultants will frame the legal and financial framework for the corporatisation, which will be sent to the cabinet for approval. The consultants will also work-out details such as the equity holding pattern.

"It is yet to be decided whether Government willretain controlling equity, how the private players will be involved in the equity holding structure etc" the minister pointed out.

Only air traffic control (ATC) will be retained by the AAI amongst all its functions. The others, including luggage and passenger handling and duty-free shops, will be sourced-out.

The Government is also considering setting-up a regulatory authority to supervise the corporatised airports.

Kumar revealed that the Government stands to suffer a revenue loss of Rs 130 crore due to the corporatisation of these airports. "These five airports account for the major portion of AAI's total revenue of Rs 363 crore" he said.

However, the minister pointed out that the move was necessary as India needed world-class airports, the money for which can only be provided by sources other than the AAI. "If London can have a Heathrow, we can also have airports with international facilities" said the minister.

In a separate move, the Prime Minister's Task Force on Infrastructure is trying toidentify the locations where five new international airports will be built, the minister said. "We need upward of Rs 3,000 crore to construct an international airport. Five airports will require funds to the tune of $ 4 billion" Kumar said.

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee had announced at the annual session of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) in October that five new international airports will be constructed.

The minister pointed-out that the AAI has up-graded a number of airports this year. The airports at Mizoram, Dimapur, Agra, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad have been up-graded. "The up-graded Tirupati airport will be inaugurated in February" said Kumar.