Rajasthan govt puts break on handing over Jaipur airport management to Adani Group

Jaipur: The Congress-led Rajasthan government has raised an objection over the proposal of handing over the management of Jaipur International Airport to Adani Group. The government wrote to the airport authorities asking how the airport can be handed over to a private group without the permission from the state Civil Aviation Directorate.

The land for Jaipur airport had been allotted by the state free of cost, so it should be taken into confidence before the management is handed over to Adani Group, as per the objection raised by the government.

In February, the Adani group placed a bid of Rs 175 per passenger for Jaipur and five other airports, becoming the highest bidder. No other company could go beyond the rate. The five airports will be under the Adani group for the next 50 years once the MoU is signed between the airport authority and the company.

Now that the state government has raised an objection, the airport authority is on the back foot.

Sources said the authority has informed the state government that the MoU was yet to be signed.

It will be difficult for the airport authorities to go through with the proposal of managing the airport under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode following this new development.

The airport employees are already up in arms against the MoU. They had launched an agitation and threatened to file a petition in Rajasthan high court against the privatization of the airport management. The airport employees union had also staged a hunger strike.

The union members are demanding that that the management of these airports should stay under the Airport Authority of India and not under any private firm.

The central government announced in November that Jaipur and five more airports of the country – Lucknow, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mangalore will be managed on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The government claimed that it would boost infrastructure and facilities for passengers.

The union government believe that the PPP model will lead to increased facilities at luggage screening counter, check-in counter, and washrooms.