The Airports Authority of India has before it a proposal for levying user development fee (UDF) of Rs 900-1,000 on international passengers and Rs 200-250 on domestic travellers in 11 international airports.
Mr V.P. Agarwal, Chairman, Airports Authority of India, said here on Tuesday, “We will send the proposal to the Public Investment Board in a month for approval.” The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority would also evaluate it, he said.
“The process, subject to Government approval, would allow us to charge UDF of 70-80 per cent of what is being charged by private airports,” he said.
Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai — the four private airports — charge UDF of up to Rs 1,300 on international passengers and Rs 300 on domestic travellers.
Land lease
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is looking to lease surplus land at 24 airports on private-public partnership for commercial activity, Mr Agarwal said.
Nearly 6 per cent of the land at its disposal would be given on 30 years’ lease, which could be extended for 30 years.
“We have prepared a master plan for this and are waiting for Government clearance,” he said.
Nearly 15 per cent space inside the terminal at airports would be leased out for setting up high value shops, he added.
Now, 3 per cent space is leased out for this purpose.
The AAI had earmarked 45 acres adjacent to the Kolkata airport for leasing out to private players through a tendering process.
The land would be used for city-side developments such as budget and star hotels, catering services and so on, Mr Agarwal said, adding that the authority hopes to earn Rs 250 crore a year from these non-traffic activities.
Costly affair
The AAI is facing cost-overruns of the airport modernisation projects due to increase in raw material cost, he said.
The investment estimate for modernising the Kolkata airport has shot up from Rs 1,950 crore to Rs 2,750 crore.
The Chennai airport project will cost Rs 2,004 crore up from Rs 1,808 crore.
The outlay for the modernisation works at various airports could increase by Rs 500-600 crore, he said.
The Authority had planned a Rs 12,500-crore investment till 2012 for modernisation at 40 airports and runway expansions in 25.
Infrastructure bonds
It has placed a proposal before the Finance Ministry for raising Rs 5,000 crore by issuing infrastructure bonds (Rs 4,000 crore from institutions and Rs 1,000 crore from the public) to meet the fund requirements.
The AAI was eyeing Rs 4,000 crore as revenue in 2009-10, up from Rs 3,700 crore in the previous fiscal, Mr Agarwal said, adding that passenger traffic had increased by 16 per cent in July and 26 per cent in August vis-À-vis the corresponding months last year.
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