As Adani Enterprises Ltd had emerged as the highest bidder and won the bids for operation of six airports in India including the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) airport Guwahati, its name is likely to be added to that of LGBI airport.
However, the proposal for Guwahati airport still awaits cabinet approval. The Adani Group had won the bids for all six airports across the country which are set to be privatised by the central government under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.
Apart from Guwahati, the other airports to be privatised include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram. The union cabinet in July 2019, had given its nod for leasing Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru airport to the Adani Group.
The corporate house will carry out operations and maintenance related activities in these airports for a period of 50 years.
Senior officials at the LGBI airport informed G Plus that post the cabinet approval, the name of Adani Group is likely to be added to that of the iconic LGBI airport once it takes over its operations.
“The private players usually add their name to the airport’s name for their branding and promotion as airports are very prominent locations for branding,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.
He also cited the examples of Delhi and Mumbai airports where private companies’ (GMR and GVK) names have been added prominently before to the iconic airports’ names.
Further commenting on the changes which can be expected to be seen once the Adani Group takes over LGBI airport’s operations, authorities said that investments in the airlines sector will definitely increase in the region. They added that there will also be some hiccups during the transition phase.
However, the airport officials also shed light on the flip side of privatisation too as ultimately customers will ultimately bear the brunt of the increased costs.
“As it has been seen in the past that after the PPP comes into effect, the operations and maintenance of the airport improves, the cost will rise too,” said a senior official adding, “Although the profits will increase for the airport authority too, but ultimately the increased cost will have to be borne by the passengers.”
In September 2019, Adani Enterprises had announced that it has incorporated a new company called Adani Guwahati International Airport Ltd. where it will carry out operations and maintenance-related activities of the LGBI airport.
