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Recently, the Lok Sabha has passed the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Amendment Bill, 2021.
About
- The Bill was first introduced in March 2021, and was subsequently referred to a parliamentary panel, which approved it without any changes.
- It seeks to amend the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008.
Key Provisions
- It will allow AERA to regulate tariff and other charges for aeronautical services for not just major airports with annual passenger traffic of more than 3.5 million, but also a group of airports together.
- Currently, the airport sector regulator determines the tariff of a single airport and the amendment will allow for tariff fixation of more than one airport.
- It proposes to modify the definition of a major airport to include a group of airports under the AERA Act 2008.
- It aims to pair the smaller non-profitable airports with profitable airports as a combination/package to bidders to make it a viable combination for investment under PPP mode.
Image Courtesy: BS
Significance
- This move is also likely to help in expanding the air connectivity to relatively remote areas and as a result, expediting the UDAN scheme.
- It will pave the way for the privatisation of a small loss-making airport by clubbing it with a larger airport.
Concerns
- Lack of clarity in the bill on the criterion for deciding which airports will be clubbed together to qualify under ‘a group of airports’ definition.
Airports Economic Regulatory Authority
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Source :LM
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