According to government officials, bids for 11 airports are anticipated by April as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is ready to begin the third round of airport monetization after almost five years. Varanasi and Amritsar are important airports in this round.
Five bundles of metro and non-metro airports have been established by the government under the new framework: Amritsar–Kangra, Varanasi–Kushinagar–Gaya, Raipur–Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar–Hubli, and Trichy–Tirupati. The public-private partnership (PPP) model will be used to lease these airports on long-term concessions for construction, management, and operation.
According to officials, requests for proposals (RFPs) would be released following the proposal’s anticipated approval by the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) in the upcoming two months. In 2026–2027, the government hopes to fund about ₹6,000 crore from this round. The money raised would probably be used by AAI to build new assets and expand airports.
In order to facilitate cross-subsidization, the third round is the first to employ a bundling strategy, which pairs busy airports with smaller ones. Adani Group, GMR Airports, Vinci Airports, and NIIF are among the five airport operators who have indicated interest in the bidding process.
Source – The Financial Express
