New Delhi, Nov 24: The ownership of four metro airports, which are to be privatised through the joint venture route, should remain in the control of Indian nationals and foreign equity participation should not be allowed to exceed 49 per cent, a parliamentary panel has recommended. The Parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture also recommended that a regulatory mechanism to fix the parameters for investment made on airports be set up before the airports authority of India (Amendment) Bill was passed by both houses. The committee, whose 61st report on the bill was tabled in Parliament last week, suggested that the money earned through airport privatisation should be spent only on undertaking developmental activities at other airports and not for general administrative purposes.
"The airports should remain in the control of Indian nationals, thereby protecting safety, security and sovereignty of the country," the report said, adding that the panel, therefore, recommends that foreign equity participation "should, under no circumstances, be allowed to exceed the limit of 49 per cent". Bureau Report