Aviation Secretary Pradeep Khairola said that the disinvestment of Air India has reached a very advanced stage
The aviation secretary said in a statement yesterday that the central government is preparing to start privatizing airports from 2022. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is investigating its potential. Aviation Secretary Pradeep Kharola further said that the process of issuing awards for about 10 airports under the third phase of privatization of airports is going to start soon.
He further said that the AAI is reviewing how the profit-making and loss-making airports can be privatized in a package. For this, we will select 6-10 airports in the first phase and these airports will be provided to the private sector for 50 years.
Responding to the issue of disinvestment of Air India, he said that the ongoing conversation about this is in a very advanced stage. He further said that when it comes to Air India, it means that Air India is part of our family. This includes Air India Express, AISATS and Pawan Hans. Talking on Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN, he said that the budgetary allocation for this has been increased from Rs 430 crore to Rs 600 crore for FY 21-22.
He said that the government’s focus would be on the development of 100 airports across the country. He also said that the air fare band levied after lockdown will not be made permanent. This is a temporary provision as soon as air transport becomes normal, the airfare band will be withdrawn.
