AAI to invest Rs 1500 cr on non-metro airport rejig

The Airport Authority of India will invest about Rs 1,500 crore to modernise at least 10 non-metro airports in the country by 2008.

According to sources, AAI is awaiting approval from the ministry of civil aviation on the final list of airports to be covered in the first phase of the non-metro airport modernisation programme.

AAI has already identified 12 cities, which include Jaipur, Udaipur, Srinagar, Amritsar, Ambala, Thiruvananthapuram, Vishakapatnam, Mangalore, Nagpur, Goa, Varanasi and Trichy, the sources said.

Of these 12 airports, 10 will be modernised using the public private partnership (PPP) model.

The air side of the modernisation will be with AAI, which will include modernisation of terminals, parking bays, taxiway and runways.

"It, however, will be subject to the decision of the committee on infrastructure headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on what kind of a model will be followed for the deveplopment of city side and what kind of facilities could be developed," the sources said.

The modernisation of airports have become a contentious issue between the UPA government and its left allies, who have opposed the privatisation process.