Editorial

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

NEW DELHI, Saturday (AFP) India decided Friday to set up an aviation watchdog and said the national regulator would steer a 400-billion rupee (8.69-billion dollar) programme to revamp the country's ramshackle airports.

Infrastructure is a massive problem even at large Indian airports with insufficient plane parking slots, runways that need to be lengthened and facilities such as duty-free shops that fall short of international rivals.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, number two in India's national planning agency, said the federal watchdog would be responsible for the upgrade of 25 domestic and international airports and supporting facilities.

"The statutory regulator will be in place by next month and 400 billion rupees required for the modernisation of airports would be met through public/private partnership," the economist-turned executive told reporters in New Delhi.

Fifty-five more airports have also been identified for modernisation, Ahluwalia said after a meeting of the federal planning commission headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's free-market economy.

www.ceylincoproperties.com

www.Pathmaconstruction.com

| News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security |
| Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries | Junior Observer |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager