The Airports Authority of India is going ahead with its plans to privatise non-metro airports.
Though the authority's plans to privatise metro airports have failed to take off, it has invited bids from financial and technical consultants to advise it on opening up non-metro airports to private players.
Airports Authority of India plans to divest 74 per cent of its equity.
"We plan to give the private operator total charge of the city side of the terminal, while Airports Authority of India will take care of the security and air traffic control," said senior AAI officials.
Airports Authority of India has already shortlisted some centres, these include Aurangabad, Thiruvananathapuram, Khajuraho, Gaya, Varanasi, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Kozhikode.
In August last year, Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain had announced that once metro airports are privatised, non-metro airports would follow.
The delay in the privatisation of metro airports has held up the whole process.
The civil aviation ministry is currently working on a proposal to upgrade the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
It plans to create two separate companies for the two airports and invest Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion) in their modernisation.
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