Adani signs concession agreement with AAI for taking over of three more airports

• Adani group signs concession agreement with AAI for taking over of Guwahati, Jaipur & Thiruvananthapuram airports

• The concession period is 50 years from the commercial operation date

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed three Concession Agreements for operations, management and development of Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram airports through PPP mode with the concessionaires i.e. Adani Guwahati International Airport Ltd, Adani Jaipur International Airport Ltd and Adani Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd respectively on Tuesday. The agreements have been signed by AAI's Executive Director (Strategic Initiative Unit) NV Subbarayudu on behalf of AAI and Adani Airports Limited's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Behnad Zandi at corporate headquarters of AAI in the presence of AAI's Chairman Arvind Singh, board members and other senior officials of AAI and Adani Enterprises Limited.

The concessionaires are required to take up the Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram airports fulfilling certain conditions precedents within 180 days from January 19 and will operate, manage and develop the airports for next 50 years, in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the concession agreements.

An international competitive bidding process for PPP transaction for six airports (viz. Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram,) was initiated by AAI during December 2018 and Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) emerged highest bidder for these three airports along with Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad airports. Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad airports were handed over to the concessionaires on October 31, 2020, November 2, 2020, and November 7, 2020, respectively.

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Subsequent to approval received from the government during August 2020, Letters of Awards were issued to AEL for Guwahati, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram airports and after getting security clearance by AEL, Concession Agreements were signed. The concessionaire of Guwahati airport shall pay AAI a per passenger fee of Rs 160.00 for domestic passenger and Rs 320 for international passenger. Similarly, the concessionaires for Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram airports will pay AAI per passenger fee of Rs 174 and Rs 168 respectively for domestic passenger and Rs 348 and Rs 336 respectively for the international passenger. Per passenger domestic fee will be revised annually taking into account of the variation in the CPI (IW).

On the occasion, Singh said, "It is a significant occasion today when we complete this round of signing of concession agreements for three airports, under the PPP mode. Looking forward to healthy participation from the private sector in the growth story of Indian civil aviation."

The concession fee that would be received by AAI after leasing out six airports will be used for the maintenance and development of other brownfield airports and also for further development of RCS and Greenfield airports throughout the country.

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