Assam’s Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in the city of Guwahati was handed over to the Adani Group on Friday for the responsibilities of airport operations, management and development. According to a press statement, the symbolic key of the Northeast’s foremost airport was handed over by the Airport Director of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Ramesh Kumar to the Chief Airport Officer of the new airport operator, Utpal Baruah. In the year 2018, the Modi government included the Guwahati airport in the group of six airports- Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram, which is set for privatization for operations, management and development (OMD) for 50 years’ time period, a PTI report said.
For all the six airports, Adani Enterprise emerged as the successful bidder. The signing of the concession agreement between the AAI and Adani Enterprise took place earlier this year on January 19 in New Delhi. From Friday onwards, the responsibilities of operations, management and development of the international airport will be handled by Adani Guwahati International Airport Limited (AGIAL), the new airport operator.
According to the report, the new airport operator will be supported by the staff of the AAI in the initial three years. Speaking on the event, Kumar wished luck to the new airport operator as well as assured his support in the initial phase. Baruah, in his address, thanked the Airports Authority of India for bringing in noticeable changes to Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport. He appealed to each and every person at the airport and public at large for wholehearted support to make the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport a world class facility that will bring pride to the country.
A few months ago, the AERA (Amendment) Bill, 2021 got approved by both houses of Parliament. According to Civil Aviation Ministry, the AERA bill allows tariff determination of a ‘group of airports’ by way of amending the definition of ‘major airport.’