y to almost double, according to the planning commission, from 23.40 million in 1996-97 to 40.55 million in 2001-02. Domestic passenger traffic is expected to touch 52.3 million; international traffic around 32.4 million and cargo about one million tons. The Airport authority of India (AAI) estimates that by 2012, Indian airports will handle 100 million passengers. AAI has control over 86 airports and 26 "civilian enclaves" in addition to five international airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta and Thiruvananthapuram. The existing aviation infrastructure can support a 20 per cent rise in passenger traffic and a 10 per cent growth in cargo. This effectively means a saturation of Indian airports over the next few years. In India though the number of airports is more than some of the countries in the neighborhood like china, these are under utilized and under developed. Over the last 10 years, the government has invested more than US $ 315 million in the modernization of five international airports. The modernization measures include improvement in navigational equipment, upgradation of terminals and passenger support facilities. Traffic patterns for 1996-97 show that 73 per cent of traffic is handled by the international airports, resulting in bottlenecks in the terminal buildings. At present the government policy allows 76 per cent equity in airport projects through the automatic approval route and 100 per cent on a case to case basis. A core group has been set up by the ministry of civil aviation and it includes representatives from the IDFC and ICICI, for organizing finances for new projects. The planning commission has set a target of US $ 817.6 million for airport development during the Ninth plan period, 1997-2002. This includes an investment target of US $ 473.57 million for developing international airports with the emphasis on capacity, demand and augmentation of passenger terminals at the five international airports. The ...
