Centre to work with states for capacity augmentation of airport infra

The Centre will work with the states for innovative measures for capacity augmentation of airports in the country and revise regulatory framework for airports, apparently to attract private capital into the aviation sector.

At a meeting between the Civil Aviation Ministry and Airline representatives here today, proposals for a new urban planning and multi-modal connectivity to the airports was discussed as part of the NABH (NextGen Airports for Bharat) Nirman initiative.

The initiative seeks expansion of the airport capacity more than five times to handle a billion trips a year. The aviation industry at present is growing at a rate of about 30 per cent.

During the meeting chaired by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, it was felt that further amendments to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority Act is needed to address the capacity constraint issue, sources said. Airport Authority of India chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra was also present at the meeting.

The collective concerns of the airlines was that the steps being initiated now should have been taken four to five years ago. The capacity constraint has come to such a point that airports such as Delhi and Mumbai are unable to provide further slots for new services, they said.

The Civil Aviation Ministry tweeted that the Minister of State has kick-started periodic discussions with airline and airport stake-holders on NABH Nirman-our plan for expansion of airport capacity. "We are committed to building India's airport infrastructure ahead of future aviation demand," the tweet said.

The meeting today assumed significance in light of a recent report by Airports Council International, which projected that India is poised to become the second fastest aviation market in the world by 2040, leaving behind China at the eighth place.