The civil aviation ministry is considering several options for financing loss-making airports and delinking them from the nine profit-making ones.
The ministry may ask the finance ministry for a grant to maintain these airports or decide to set up a fund within the Airports Authority of India.
Senior ministry officials said the move was in line with the government's policy of privatising profit-making airports. At present, the earnings of the profit-making airports are used in the maintenance of loss-making ones.
Among the 70 operational airports under the AAI, only the Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa, Pune and Juhu airports reported profits in 2001-02.
Sources said while the nine airports totalled a profit of Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) in 2001-02, the other airports recorded a combined loss of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).
Thus, in 2001-02, the AAI's profit was just Rs 266 crore (Rs 2.66 billion), primarily due to the losses incurred by the 61 airports. In 2000-01, 11 airports reported profits.
Ministry officials said as the AAI would hold some stake in the profit-making airports even after their privatisation, the revenue generated from these ventures could be channelised towards the creation of a fund for the upgradation and maintenance of the loss-making airports. The revenue generated from the ground-handling and cargo-handling subsidiaries could also go to the fund.
The ministry hopes to corporatise the Mumbai and Delhi airports and invite global construction tenders by October this year. The AAI is also in the process of shortlisting financial and technical consultants for the other profit-making metro and non-metro airports.
The AAI has 124 airports under it, 70 of which are operational.
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