Celebi Holdings, the Turkey-based airport services provider, plans to invest $100 million in its ground handling business in India by the second quarter of financial year 2012-13.
“India provides a lot of opportunity and we plan to make it our second home. We plan to invest $100 million in the country over the next 18 months,” said Vice-Chairman Canan Celebioglu Tokgoz.
She added the majority of these investments would involve buying state-of-the-art equipment. Apart from handling cargo at the Delhi airport, the company is looking after ground handling at Delhi and Mumbai airports. It had invested $30.2 million in India till 2010-end.
Celebi also plans to double its work force in the country in the next five years. It employs 5,000 people here.
“Going by modest estimates, we will increase our workforce to 10,000 in the coming five years. I am sure we will easily cross the number,” said Tokgoz.
Celebi feels India provides huge opportunity as many airports are being upgraded across the country.
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“We are in talks with the Airports Authority of India for a possible pact to provide world class services at the various new, swanky terminals being upgraded across the country. We see huge scope for improvement at these airports,” said Jungbir Singh, a board member.
Celebi hopes the new ground handling policy, being opposed by the airlines in India, with the matter being sub-judice, gets clearance soon.
The policy allows only three ground handlers at the six major airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata — and restricts airlines to carry out certain aspects of ground handling.