NEW DELHI: Central Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has stated that the Central government will be moving forward with the privatisation of Thiruvananthapuram airport. The minister announced this while speaking at the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

According to the minister, the central government has plans of privatising six airports which are under the Airport Authority of India. They are Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore airports. The minister also made it clear that even though the auction procedures have been completed, the airports haven’t been handed over to the companies.

The minister added that apart from experience in the aviation sector, the companies’ financial security will also be taken into consideration before handing over the airports. It must be noted that Central agencies will be taking care of customs and security in these privatised airports. The minister also revealed that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had informed him about the state’s concerns.

It must be noted that the Airport Authority’s recommendation to hand over the airport on lease to the Adani group is under Central ministry’s consideration. Earlier, the Centre had stopped the handing over procedures till the end of the Lok Sabha elections.