Singapore-based Changi Airport International said once the 35 non-metro airports in India come up for development, the company will bid for their development jointly with an Indian company. Germany’s Fraport, too, said it is in advanced talks with major corporates for jointly bidding for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport.
India?s aviation sector had tremendous growth potential, provided government initiatives were in place to propel growth and attract investment, echoed Changi and Fraport, representatives of which were present during the Aviation Outlook India 2009, a two-day seminar kickstarted on Tuesday with a focus on opportunities and challenges in the development of the aviation infrastructure.
Ng Tim Peng, vice president-India, Changi Airports International, told FE: ?Politically, India does not have an easy environment for foreign investment. The government has to ease policies for foreign players and also there has to be a mechanism to grant permission and clearances on a fast track.?
He added that despite a global slowdown, the Indian economy was growing at 5-6%. The country had also undertaken huge infrastructure projects in the past few years, which opened doors for foreign investors looking to invest in India, he said.
Feng said he expected policy reforms for investments in the aviation sector in the ensuing Budget to be presented next week. According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the government plans to invest $9 billion (Rs 45,000 crore) to modernise existing airports by 2010. The government is also planning to develop around 300 unused airstrips.
Peng said once the 35 non metro airport in India came up for development, his company would bid for their development jointly with an Indian company. Changi International Airport had in 2006 done consultancy on the Mumbai airport for GVK, who are modernising the same with a foreign partner.
Similarly, Anager Sickert, managing director, Fraport India, said his firm was in advanced talks with major corporates for jointly bidding for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport.
The company was interested in airport management as well, he said, adding that ?if there is no airport management, then we will not bid for it.? Fraport operates Frankfurt International Airport and is also involved in ground-handling jobs at the airports it runs.