**Summary:**
In response to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 280 on August 7, 2025, regarding standard financial qualification norms for airport operation contracts awarded to private companies from 2019 to date, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, stated that due process was followed.
In 2018, the Government of India established the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS), chaired by the CEO of NITI Aayog, to manage the bidding process for the Operations, Management, and Development of six Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mangaluru) under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The EGoS finalized the bidding process, which included provisions such as the removal of prior airport experience as a mandatory criterion, to broaden participation and increase competition. Consequently, AAI received 32 bids from 10 entities for the six airports. Following due procedure, the airports were leased to the highest bidders. The bidding process adhered to the contours established by the EGoS. There were no deviations from the established eligibility criteria.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Civil Aviation: The government ministry responsible for civil aviation in India.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India, where the starred question was raised.
Airports Authority of India AAI: A statutory body responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India.
NITI Aayog: A policy think tank of the Government of India.
Public Private Partnership PPP: A form of government procurement where private sector companies undertake projects, typically infrastructure, on behalf of the public sector.
Ahmedabad, Gujarat: A city in Gujarat, India, and one of the six airports mentioned in the bidding process.
Jaipur, Rajasthan: A city in Rajasthan, India, and one of the six airports mentioned in the bidding process.
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: A city in Uttar Pradesh, India, and one of the six airports mentioned in the bidding process.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. : 280
( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 7th August 2025 )
STANDARD FINANCIAL QUALIFICATION NORMS
280. SHRI CHAMALA KIRAN KUMAR REDDY
Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION
be pleased to state:-
(a) whether due process and standard financial qualification norms were followed while
awarding airport operation contracts to private companies from 2019 till date and if so, the
details thereof;
(b) whether there was any deviation from the usual eligibility criteria, particularly relating to
experience in airport operations and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the reasons for relaxing such norms and the manner in which the same compares with the
norms applied to public sector as well as other private operators such as Airports Authority of
India (AAI), Fairfax, GMR and GVK?
ANSWER
Minister of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu)
(a) to (c): A statement is laid on the table of the House.
******STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (C) OF LOK
SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 280* FOR REPLY ON 07.08.2025
REGARDING "STANDARD FINANCIAL QUALIFICATION NORMS"
ASKED BY SHRI CHAMALA KIRAN KUMAR REDDY;; ; (a) to (c): In
2018, Government of India constituted the Empowered Group of Secretaries
(EGoS) under the Chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog, to take forward the
bidding process of six airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) namely
Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru
for their Operations, Management and Development under Public Private
Partnership (PPP). EGoS finalized the contours of the bidding process which
inter-alia included various provisions viz. no prior airport experience etc. These
provisions ensured that there are more bidders ensuring more competition. As a
result, AAI received a total of 32 bids from 10 entities for its PPP proposal of
six airports and thereafter following due procedure, these six airports were
leased to the highest bidder.; ; There was no deviation in the bidding process
from the contours as was decided by EGoS.
*****