Guwahati News Desk: Chief Minister of Assam Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma holds a discussion with the Promoter of Airports Adani Group Jeet Adani in Guwahati City on Friday.
During the fruitful discussion between the Assam CM and Adani, the group has assured and committed to developing Guwahati Airport as among the best airports in India.
During the meeting, Chief Minister Dr Sarma clearly told that the name of the Guwahati Airport will always remain as Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport.
Earlier, a nine-member team of Adani Airport Holding Ltd (AAHL) led by Chief Airport Officer Utpal Baruah formally started its observation period and is likely to take over the charge in October, said the Airport Authority of India (AAI).
Earlier in the year 2018, the central government leased out six airports i.e. Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati, Jaipur, Mangaluru, and Thiruvananthapuram. The decision was taken to enhance revenue and to provide job opportunities and also upgrade the airport into modernization.
The central government was provided the Guwahati Airport on a lease basis for a period of 50 years. The largest airport of northeast India will be fully privatized by October 2021 as the construction of the new international airport is going on.
For the operation of the new Adani airport, a veteran in the aviation industry from Assam Utpal Baruah was appointed as Chief Airport Officer by the Adani Airport Holding Ltd (AAHL), he is looking after the observation operation before taking over the final charges of the LGBI Airport.
During the observation period, the Adani Group will start working with the staff of the AAI to get to know about the ongoing tasks and duties, and operations before taking over the charges.
According to the sources, only the security and air traffic communication of LGBI airport will be looked after by the AAI from October. The management has already issued a notice to vacate all the 220 AAI quarters at the airport residential colony by the end of this month as the displaced AAI employees at LGBI airport are likely to be posted at other airports.