AAI to hand over Jaipur, Guwahati & Thiruvananthapuram airports to Adani Group in January

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will hand over Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports to the Adani Group next month.

Apart from the above three, the group had won bids to operate three more AAI airports including Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad for 50 years on PPP basis. While it has taken over Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, AAI will hand over the other three airports by mid-January.

The Union government’s decision to run Thiruvananthapuram airport PPP way had been challenged legally. “That decision has come in our favour as the process was done in a very open and transparent manner. The security clearance has also come for (handing over the remaining three airports to Adani Group),” aviation secretary P S Kharola said on Tuesday.

AAI chairman Arvind Singh said: “The process will be completed by mid January. We are now working on operating six more airports the PPP way.”

The Adani Group is soon going to take over Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), and the upcoming Navi Mumbai Airport, where it is acquiring a controlling stake from outgoing promoter GVK Group.

With seven functional airports and a greenfield one (at Navi Mumbai) under its belt, the Adani Group will be the biggest private airport operator in India in terms of number of airports handled.