The government will soon start auctioning six more airports under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode and the additional investment by private players in a total of 12 airports will be Rs 13,000 crore, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

The announcement on airports is part of the fourth tranche of stimulus measures.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already awarded three of the six aerodromes that were bid out for operation and maintenance under the PPP mode.

Sitharaman said the annual revenue of the six airports would be around Rs 1,000 crore, while the current profit is about Rs 540 crore per year. Besides, AAI would get a down payment of Rs 2,300 crore.

Six more airports have been identified for bidding and the bid process would commence immediately. These airports are those at Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy, according to an official.

MRO hub

Steps will be taken to make the country a hub for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of aircraft, Sitharaman said.

“Not just civil aircraft but defence planes can also benefit from the MRO if we make India a huge hub ... Maintenance cost for all airlines will come down and that will have a ripple effect on passengers,” she said.