Country's airports struggle to handle rising traffic

India needs Rs 40,000 crore to improve infrastructure

With the Indian economy being one of the fastest growing economies with an expected growth of around 8 per cent, the air passenger traffic has been growing at a scorching pace of over 20 per cent.

Civil aviation must contribute to the growth of the economy "but, the airport infrastructure has not kept pace," said Ajay Prasad, secretary, ministry of civil aviation.

About Rs 40,000 crore over a period of 5-6 years will be required to improve the infrastructure and ground facilities, said Prasad. He was speaking at Aerodrome India 2005, an exhibition-cum-seminar on aerodromes. But, with the government not in a position to raise this kind of money, "it will be necessary to involve the private sector," added Prasad.

With airport infrastructure being "hopelessly inadequate", the airports are not ready to meet the growing demands of passengers and cargo. The government is planning to upgrade 30 airports across the country, especially in state capitals. For this, it has appointed a technical and financial consultant to prepare a detailed report on each airport, Prasad said.

A financial model will be developed where the private sector will hold a 74 per cent stake and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will hold the rest. In cases where the private sector may not be interested, the AAI will raise resources.

To make the open sky policy meaningful, airports should be ready to handle the traffic. With some 11 million passengers travelling by train every day, even if 5 per cent of these begin flying, the airports will not be in a position to handle the increased traffic, said Prasad.

Though there are hundreds of aeronautical engineers produced every year, there is an acute shortage of people qualified to plan, build and manage airports, said C G Krishnadas Nair, president, Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI).

Hence, there is a proposal from SIATI and like-minded bodies to set up a university to train the necessary personnel for airports.

P G R Sindhia, state industries and infrastructure minister, meanwhile, has agreed to provide the land for setting up the proposed university.