Adani to pay 3 lakh cr for operating 6 airports

New Delhi: The Adani Group will pay over Rs 3 lakh crore to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for operating six airports in the country under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.The company emerged as the highest bidder for all the six airports -- Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and Mangaluru -- as per financial bids opened on February 25.

The bid was decided on the basis of the highest per passenger fees quoted by the bidder. Adani bid Rs 177 per passenger for Ahmedabad, Rs 174 per passenger for Jaipur, Rs 171 for Lucknow, Rs 160 for Guwahati, Rs 168 for Thiruvananthapuram, and Rs 115 for Mangaluru. Adani Enterprises will look after the operation and management of the airports, currently run by the AAI, for 50 years.

According to documents reviewed by IANS, Gautam Adani-led Adani Enterprises will pay about Rs 3,15,000 crore to the AAI, against Rs 2,60,000 crore quoted as the second highest bid for the airports. Accordingly, they will pay Rs 55,000 crore additional premium compared to the second highest bidder. IANS has learnt that the company will also be liable to pay a minimum of Rs 6,000 crore per year to the AAI, whereas it will have to incur an capital expenditure of minimum Rs 20,000 crore, for the six airports in the next five years.

The development comes as a major shot in the arm for the group amidst reports that the company plans to acquire a stake in Mumbai International Airport Ltd, which is currently run by the GVK group.In November last year, the government had cleared a proposal for managing six AAI-run airports on public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The Guwahati airport was the other one to be put out for privatisation but the bids for the airport were not opened.