Buoyed by the success of implementation of PPP model in airport development, the government plans to invest $30 billion in next 10 years with more existing airports being opened up for modernisation, a top official said today.
“In 10th and 11th five—year plans, the government has invested $10 billion. The airports developed under the public—private—partnership model are presently handling 60 per cent of the passenger traffic in the country. The government has planned to invest $30 billion in next 10 years,” said S.N.A Zaidi, Civil Aviation Secretary, while addressing the 3rd International Aviation Economics Conference here.
In the first phase, connectivity to metro cities was established while in the second phase, the focus would be on connecting metros to tier—II and tier—III cities, he said.
Stressing the need for more airports in the country, Mr Zaidi said the number of passengers was likely to go upto 260 million and cargo by five million tonnes by 2020.
“Presently, there are around 127 airports in the country, but in the second phase of sectoral growth, the existing airports would be developed. Some new airports may come and if needed, a second airport would also come up in those cities where there is a need,” he said, adding the government is planning to invest Rs 67,000 crore on these new projects.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.