Rs 5000 cr plan to upgrade 30 airports

The Airports Authority of India would raise nearly Rs 5000 crore (Rs 50 billion) through bonds and other instruments to upgrade about 30 airports across the country by 2007-08, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said on Wednesday.

 "The process to upgrade these airports has already begun and will go on simultaneously with the restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the bidding process for which is likely to be completed by March 31 next year," he told the economic editors' conference in New Delhi.

Asserting that aviation infrastructure required maximum impetus as it was inadequate keeping in view the expected splurge in traffic in the coming years, Patel said all the airports "should be taken to generation next, otherwise it is going to let us down some day".

"By 2007-08, modernisation and upgradation of all the airports identified will be completed. It may cost Rs 5000 crore and the AAI will raise money from the market through various instruments, including bonds", he said.

Making it clear that Air India and Indian Airlines would remain in the public sector and be strengthened, the minister said plans were afoot to make the two carriers achieve "triple digit growth" in the number of passengers carried in the next three years.