Airports Authority of India is now 'Adani Airports of India': Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, Aug 21: After privatization of PSU banks, and IRCTC, airports are in the big agenda of disinvestment by Govt of India.

As the Govt has recently approved the privatization of three airports in India and likely to take decision on three more, Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday opposed the privatization.

Ramesh tweeted, "First, airports in Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangalore were sold off...Now, it's the turn of Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram."

He added, "All six sold to one private company. At this rate, AAI (Airports Authority of India) could well mean 'Adani Airports of India'!"

First, the airports in Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangalore were sold off. Now, it is the turn of Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram. All six sold to one private company. At this rate, AAI (Airports Authority of India) could well mean ‘Adani Airports of India’!

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 20, 2020

Currently, a total of nine private airports in India are undertaken by private company.

In February last year, Govt of India had approved the privatization of 6 airports in India: Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati.

Out of them, Govt has given the green signal for Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram.

Airports of Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy has also been suggested for privatisation.

While announcing this decision via video conferencing, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that more airports will be privatized, and 100 new airports will be built.

Puri said, "We are going to the Cabinet tomorrow for further airport privatisation. We have got many more airports lined up, dozens of them, and the 100 new airports we will build between now and 2030."

Notably, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has opposed the privatisation of Thiruvananthapuram Airport.