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August 22, 2008 15:08 IST
A parliamentary panel has said it is at a loss to understand why the government rejected a 2006 proposal of Airports Authority of India to modernise Delhi and Mumbai airports, while questioning the move to privatise these facilities.
"Had the government agreed to this proposal of the AAI, the (modernisation of) Mumbai and Delhi airports would have been completed by this time," the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture said in its latest report.
While opposing privatisation, the report said the AAI proposal, which promised to revamp the two facilities in a much shorter time, was 'turned down for unknown reasons.'
The panel, headed by CPI(M) leader and MP Sitaram Yechury, said it had learnt that 'the government was planning to hand over 15 more profit-making airports to private parties in the name of constructing greenfield airports.'
Maintaining that privatisation of airports was a 'total negation' of the best global practices, it said globally most successful examples of airport management are known to have retained public control, even while outsourcing some particular activities to private people.
The committee, which includes lawmakers from all major political parties, said that many international airports had successfully brought in private parties to invest in areas like cargo handling, parking bays, servicing and overhauling facilities and maintenance of terminal buildings.
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