new delhi, Aug. 25 -- The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has given in-principle approval to the Civil Aviation Ministry's proposal to hand over the operations, management, and development of 11 airports to private concessionaires, with the airports grouped into five bundles. The approval for 11 airports including Amritsar, Varanasi, Kangra, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Aurangabad, Hubli, Tiruchirapalli, Gaya and Kushinagar, was given in a meeting of the PPPAC held on August 4. The five bundled airports are: Amritsar and Kangra-Gaggal; Varanasi, Gaya and Kushinagar; Bhubaneswar and Hubballi; Raipur and Aurangabad; and Tiruchirappalli and Tirupati. According to the meeting minutes, the civil aviation ministry proposed engaging private partners for 11 airports, grouped into five bundles, with each bundle awarded to a single Concessionaire, to develop world-class airport infrastructure. "The bundling seeks to enhance the long-term sustainability of smaller airports through cross-subsidisation from the revenues of larger airports," it read. To be sure, this is the second phase of airport privatisation. The first phase in 2018-19, when the government awarded six AAI airports under the PPP model. These included Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. For the present round, AAI adopted a phased and data-driven approach to identify airports suitable for PPP and bundling, as per the minutes of the meeting. "Initially, 12 major airports were assessed based on passenger traffic, land availability and commercial potential, financial performance, and airport-specific strengths and constraints, of which six were recommended for leasing. Subsequently, 136 smaller airports were evaluated for possible bundling with the major airports, based on parameters including traffic potential, capital expenditure requirements, geographical proximity, city-side development potential and financial viability," the document stated. Under the proposed arrangement, it stated, the private concessionaire will be responsible for the operation, management, and development of the airports, including passenger terminals and city-side infrastructure. AAI, however, will continue to provide air traffic control and communication, navigation, and surveillance services. It also stated that AAI's wholly owned subsidiary, AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Ltd (AAICLAS), will continue to undertake cargo operations. As per the document, the proposal also provides for a one-year joint management period involving existing AAI employees, after which the concessionaire will be required to retain 60% of AAI employees for up to three years. Before seeking the PPPAC's final recommendation, MoCA will conduct a market-sounding exercise with infrastructure players to assess their response to the proposed bundling arrangement, according to the document. AAI will also review feedback from private operators, which may result in modifications to the proposal, it said. As per people aware of the matter, MoCA will undertake a market sounding exercise with infrastructure players to assess the response to the proposed airport bundling model. MoCA said the number of airport bundles that can be awarded to a single bidder will be capped....