The government on Monday (19 December) informed the Parliament that as many as 25 airports operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be leased over FY 2022-2025 under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).

"As per National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports namely Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajahmundry have been earmarked for leasing over the years 2022 to 2025," the Minister of State for Civil Aviation General (Retired) V K Singh said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

The minister further informed that AAI has so far leased out eight of its airports under Public Private Partnership (PPP) for operation, management and development on long term lease basis. 

The airports leased by AAI so far include Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, Mangaluru International Airport, Jaipur International Airport and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

The minister said that the airports of AAI are leased out in public interest for their better management, utilising private sector efficiency and investment.

States and passengers are the ultimate beneficiary of enhanced airport infrastructure and facilities created by private partner, who operates, manages and develops the leased airport under PPP, he added.

Airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have multiplier effect on the economy of the state.

The revenue received by AAI from the leased airports is also utilized in development of airport infrastructure across the country, the minister said.