The current infrastructure of India airports is inadequate to support the ever-increasing air traffic. Currently, AAI (Airport Authority of India) handles airport operations in India. It also owns stakes in the private airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
But in the present scenario, the Indian government has planned to privatize more airports for the sake of promoting infrastructural development.
In addition to this, the government also permitted the privatization of its solely operated airline Air India. The Indian government approved the privatization proposal of Air India in 2017. The government is offering to sell 100% stakes of the ailing airline which has been enduring losses over the past decade after merging with Indian Airlines in 2007.
How is privatization indispensable to the Indian aviation industry?
So, let us first take a look at the meaning of the term ‘Privatization.’ Privatization means private sector involvement in the ownership and management of the Public Sector Enterprise (PSU). There is a provision to privatize an enterprise, business, or public property to facilitate their easier management and make them more profitable.
Several state-run airports were auctioned this year to hand over their operation and maintenance to the private sector. This includes the Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Amritsar, Indore, Raipur, and Trichy airports.
Airports which were already privatized this year include the airports located at Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow, Trivandrum, and Mangalore.
The government also plans to privatize 30 to 35 airports over the next five years.
Privatization of India Aviation is expected to make airports more efficient and air travel more feasible along with revenue generation for the exchequer.
As reported in the last four years, the civil aviation industry has grown at a rate of 20%. By 2024, India, in terms of passengers, would become the world’s third-largest aviation market.
Such massive air traffic could only be appropriately managed if airports are privatized. Privatization today is supported by the availability of modern technologies, improved customer base, and higher efficiencies in terms of technologies and personnels.
Although, privatization of Indian aviation has remained a debatable topic in the past, due to concerns raised over massive financing, challenges in performance tracking, and reduced grip of government over these matters. Yet, now, privatization and modernization of Indian airports are seen as welcoming decisions due to the Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru airport’s successful operations post their privatization a few years back.
Impact of privatization of Indian aviation sector on jobs
Moreover, the privatization of airports is expected to generate more jobs at the airport terminals. There would be an increased demand for ground-duty staffs, maintenance personnel, security staff, housekeeping staff, and many other professions.
Additionally, there might be more openings of shopping outlets and eateries even in smaller airports, which would not only add to customer attraction and cater to various needs of in-transit passengers but would also open more business and franchise opportunities.
Conclusion
Overall, it can be said that the privatization of the Indian aviation industry is only being viewed as a promising action. In the recent past, privatization of the metro city airports has yielded significant results and improved customer experience.
Privatization would also significantly improve job opportunities in the aviation sector.
Privatization would not only make air traffic management easy; it would also make the air travel experience more convenient and hassle-free.
