Centre asks TS govt to re-examine concession agreement on Hyd airport

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has urged the Telangana government to re-examine the request of the Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) for extending the period of the concession agreement from 2038 to 2068 and furnish its recommendation to his ministry.

In a letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Scindia mentioned that a concession agreement was executed between the civil aviation ministry and the GMR group-led HIAL on December 20, 2004, for the development, construction, operation and maintenance of the Hyderabad international airport.

"In terms of clause 13.7.1 of the agreement, HIAL has requested for extension of its concession period for another 30 years beyond the initial 30 years, i.e beyond March 23, 2038 and till March 23, 2068," Scindia has written to Rao, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

The southern state has been urged to re-examine the request of the HIAL and furnish its recommendations to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the statement mentioned. The airports in Mumbai and Delhi were privatised in 2006, two years after the Hyderabad airport. In his letter, Scindia also underscored the issue of operationalisation of the Warangal airport and its inclusion under regional connectivity scheme UDAN. "He mentioned that Warangal Airport is within 150km aerial distance of HIAL and can be developed with mutually agreeable solution, to be explored by state government of Telangana with HIAL and Airports Authority of India (AAI)," the statement said.