The Guwahati airport will continue to be named after Assam’s first Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi despite being handed over to the Adani Group, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has said.
In a letter to the Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, he has also assured that the ownership of the civil aviation facility will remain with the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a new regional party, and a few local organisations have been protesting the handing over of the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA). The All Assam Students’ Union joined in when an advertisement inviting bids for some non-aeronautical services at the airport was issued in the name of Adani Guwahati International Airport Limited.
Mr. Scindia said the clause of concession agreement between the AAI and the concessionaire (the Adani Group) stipulates that the airport shall be known, promoted, displayed, advertised and branded by the name of LGBIA only at all times.
“…under the international air connectivity scheme, VGF (viability gap funding) is payable to airlines concerned and not to the airport. Guwahati airport is being given on lease for operations, management and development under public private partnership, but the ownership of the airport would remain with AAI,” he wrote.
According to AJP general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, there was no reason for LGBIA to have been handed over to a private player. “The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is hell-bent on selling off all vital assets to some handpicked corporate houses,” he said.
