Decision on offloading of government share in key airports will be taken soon, says Hardeep Singh Puri

Decision on offloading of government share in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad will be taken soon, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has said on June 1.

He also added that active consultations are currently underway for the government stake sale in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru airports, in a press conference.

As for Air India, the minister said that the Air India divestment will go through.

"We agreed for a three-month additional time on demand by interested bidders," he said, adding that bidders are currently going through the carrier's books.

According to Puri,  they are currently on track to complete Air India divestment in 2021.

Reports from PTI suggest, that the government plans to sell its residual stake in already privatised Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports is part of the ambitious Rs 2.5 lakh crore asset monetisation pipeline identified to raise additional resources.

Mumbai airport shares 39 per cent and Delhi shares 46 per cent of their gross revenue with the govt, Puri noted. "These two airports have generated Rs 29,000 cr till 31 Dec 2020. Even after the stake sale, @AAI_Official will continue to receive this share which will be used to develop aviation infrastructure," Puri said.

-- With inputs from PTI