India is set to privatise 11 airports across five bundles, aiming to attract over ₹8,600 crore in investments and modernise regional aviation infrastructure through strategic public-private partnerships.
India is preparing to hand 11 airports to private operators in a move that could draw at least ₹8,622 crore in investment, according to Mint. The plan includes airports such as Varanasi, Amritsar and Bhubaneswar, and reflects New Delhi’s effort to use public-private partnerships to upgrade regional aviation infrastructure without relying solely on public spending.
The airports are expected to be packaged into five bundles, with each cluster awarded to a single concessionaire. Reporting by The Economic Times and Tribune India said the government wants to combine stronger, higher-earning airports with smaller, weaker ones so bidders can offset costs across the portfolio. Newsbytes reported that the bundles include Bhubaneswar-Hubballi, Varanasi-Gaya-Kushinagar, Raipur-Aurangabad, Tiruchirappalli-Tirupati and Amritsar-Kangra.
The proposal also appears to set clear obligations for the winning bidders. According to Mint and NDTV, operators would have to carry out capacity expansion within three years of commercial operation, following investment plans approved by the Airports Authority of India. The bid documents are also expected to spell out land availability and permitted uses for city-side development, giving private operators a broader commercial remit around the airport perimeter.
Labour arrangements are part of the transition plan as well. The Economic Times and NDTV reported that the Airports Authority of India employees at the affected airports would remain involved during an initial one-year joint management period, while concessionaires would be required to retain a majority of staff for up to three years. Business Standard said the Ministry of Civil Aviation has also proposed limiting how many airports any one operator can win, after the Ministry of Finance raised concerns about the sector’s oligopolistic structure.
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