Evolve consensus to end airport row: Assocham

Industry chamber Assocham on Wednesday said consensus should be reached between various stakeholders, including unions, over the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports - a task that been entrusted to private parties.

"Consensus should be created among all stakeholders to ensure that the modernisation drive is undertaken in a peaceful manner," Anil K Agarwal president, Assocham said in a statement in New Delhi while welcoming the government's decision.

The drama of airport privatisation

He stressed on the need for evolving a consensus among all stakeholders, including airport unions, so that the modernisation process goes ahead without any hiccup.  The decision to hand over the modernisation project to private parties was "in the spirit of liberalisation", he added.

Amid strong Left opposition, GMR-Fraport and GVK-South African Airports consortia won the Rs 5,400 crore (Rs 54 billion) airport modernisation projects in Delhi and Mumbai respectively as the empowered Group of Ministers cleared their financial bids, but protesting AAI employees decided to go on an indefinite strike.