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Amid protests, Adani Group takes over Guwahati int'l airport for 50 years
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SME Times News Bureau | 10 Oct, 2021
Amid widespread protests, the Adani Guwahati International Airport
Limited (AGIAL) on Friday took over the management, development and
operation of the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport
in Guwahati, the second international airport in the northeast after
Imphal, officials said.
Airports Authority of India (AAI)
officials said that the LGBI Airport was on Friday formally handed over
to AGIAL led by business tycoon Gautam Adani in a restricted ceremony.
Airport
director Ramesh Kumar handed over a symbolic key to Utpal Baruah, who
has been appointed Chief Airport Officer by the AGIAL.
The AAI
tweeted: "Adani Guwahati International Airport Ltd (AGIAL) today took
over operations, management and development of AAI's Guwahati airport
through PPP mode for a lease period of 50 years."
The Adani Group
tweeted: "We are delighted to announce that the Lokpriya Gopinath
Bordoloi International Airport is now a 'Gateway To Goodness'. We are
privileged to be at your service and welcome all passengers to our
airport in Guwahati."
The opposition Congress, local party Assam
Jatiya Parishad, and AAI employees' unions have been protesting against
the handing over of the airport to the private party.
During the March-April elections to the Assam assembly, the issue had dominated political campaigns.
Hundreds
of people from various walks of life had earlier launched a signature
campaign demanding the cancellation of the leasing out of the vital
airport to the private company.
AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi
said that the LGBI Airport is one of the most profit-making airports in
India and the government's claim of privatising it for the benefit of
the passengers is not justified.
On August 9, the AGIAL had began
its 'Observation Period' at the LGBI Airport as part of its mandate to
develop and modernise northeast India's main airport.
In 2018,
the Central government had leased out six AAI airports -- Guwahati,
Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru -- for
operation, management and development under the Public Private
Partnership (PPP) model.
The Adani Group had emerged as the successful bidder for all the six airports.
"The
Centre took the decision to enhance the revenue of the AAI and augment
the economic development in these areas in terms of job creation and
related infrastructure," an AAI official told IANS.
Currently,
there are 15 airports in the northeast region -- in Guwahati, Silchar,
Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Tezpur, Lilalabari and Rupsi (Assam), Tezu and
Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Agartala (Tripura), Imphal (Manipur),
Shillong (Meghalaya), Dimapur (Nagaland), Lengpui (Mizoram), and Pakyong
(Sikkim).
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