The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on the modalities for the city side development and maintenance of cargo operation of Amritsar airport under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Sources said that very soon the AAI would float tender inviting private players to undertake the project. At present, AAI itself handles the cargo operations.
According to Amritsar airport Director VSP Chinson, the scope of the work includes development and operation of cargo facilities and city-side development of the Rajasansi International Airport here. It is estimated that about 25 acres will be developed on the city-side for commercial exploitation, car parking and other amenities.
Earlier, in August 2007, the AAI handed over the contract to Mumbai-based JAC Air Services Pvt Ltd for running cargo operations for five years at the airport. However, the company suspended its services in August 2009, as it was incurring huge losses. Speaking to Business Standard, JAC Air Services Managing Director Lalit Jobanputra said, “We had a plan to place Amritsar as one of the most important international cargo hubs in the world, but we incurred huge losses in the project. In absence of cooperation from local authorities, exporters were reluctant to send goods through the airport. As a result the project proved to be unviable for us, as we were incurring losses to the tune of Rs 10 lakh per month. So we suspended our services in August 2009.”
He added that around 700-800 tonnes cargo per month were being generated from Ludhiana and Jalandhar, which were handled at the Delhi airport. “While in case of Amritsar it is less than 100 tonnes per month, which made our operation unviable,” he said. In an interaction with Business Standard, VSP Chinson confirmed that the company suspended its services as the project was unviable for it.
At present, according to the data for a period of 2007-08, 1,252 tonnes of cargo were handled at Amritsar airport. While in 2008-09, the 1,798 tonnes of cargo were handled. During the current financial year 1,044 tonnes of cargo were handled during the period April-October 2009, as compared to 1,014 tonnes during the corresponding period last year.
Presently, major portion of the cargo originating from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Rajasthan are all being executed via Delhi airport and it is believed that 30 per cent of the cargo handled at Delhi airport originates from Punjab and its adjoining states.The feasibility report prepared by Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and the Agriculture Produce and Processed Food Export Development Authority (Apeda), says that there is an export potential of Rs 100 crore a day from Rajasansi Airport, Amritsar.