New Delhi, Sept 21: The Supreme Court order on disinvestment of HPCL and BPCL will not affect privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports schedule, official sources said today. Nine more airports, including those in Chennai and Kolkata, were also in line to be privatised and the Airports Authority of India Act had been suitably amended by Parliament to meet the needs for developing world-class airports in the country with private participation, the sources said.
The two airports have been evaluated at over an estimated Rs 5,000 crore, they said, adding the act had been amended, not only to clearly define a private airport, but also to allow establishment of private airports. Provisions were also made in the act to lease the airport premises to private operators with prior approval of the government.
These provisions, the sources said, would enable the airport privatisation process to proceed without a hitch.
The Union Cabinet had on September 11 approved restructuring of the two metro airports through the joint venture route with a maximum of 74 per cent private equity. Bureau Report