Modi govt hands over Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh airport to Adani group on lease for 50 years

Named after former Prime Minister and legendary farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh, the Lucknow international airport has been handed over to a firm owned by industrialist Gautam Adani on lease for 50 years.

National Herald had earlier reported how the Modi government had flouted rules and favoured Adani Enterprises which went on to win the bids to run profit-making airports.

After Mangaluru, Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport is the second airport that has been handed over to Adani Enterprises recently.

Apart from Lucknow and Menguluru, Adani had won the bid for the privatization of four profit making airports - Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati.

“Shri A.K Sharma, APD (Airport Director), Lucknow exchanged symbolic keys in accordance with concession agreement & future development,” tweeted AAI.

It is worth recalling that the AAI had signed a concession agreement with Adani Enterprises earlier this year on February 14 for operations, management and development of the Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad airports.

On October 22, the AAI said in a press release that Adani Enterprises would be taking over the airports at Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad by October 31, November 2 and November 11 respectively.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has come down heavily on the Modi government and said that “development is taking place, but only for a few capitalist friends”.

Congress general secretary in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi also targeted the government.

“BJP's Diwali gift to people: unprecedented inflation. BJP's Diwali gift to their capitalist friends: 6 airports. With the capitalists and ensuring progress of capitalists,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Modi government in February 2019 privatized six major airports of the country -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. After a so-called competitive bidding process, Adani Enterprises won the rights to run all of them for 50 years although the rules say that no airport can be given on lease for more than 30 years.