The airports in Delhi and Mumbai, run by private companies, are also planning to buy such equipment on the fast-track mode this year. News18 claimed to have accessed the global tender documents issued by the AAI for the airports it operates directly. The full-body scanners will cost Rs 788 crore; and the hand-baggage scanners, Rs 246 crore. Privacy concerns and later the Covid pandemic delayed the project but the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has since pushed for it, according to the report.

The door frame-type metal detectors being used at present will be replaced with full-body scanners, quickening the security clearance process by reducing the need for pat-downs. This will also ensure better screening, particularly at sensitive and hypersensitive airports.

The new scanners for hand baggage can eliminate the need for passengers to take out laptops and phones, and other such gadgets from their hand luggage.

As per the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports – Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun, and Rajahmundry, have been earmarked for leasing over the years 2022 to 2025, Minister of State, Civil Aviation, Gen V.K. Singh (retd) told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The AAI has leased out eight of its airports under Public Private Partnership (PPP) for operation, management and development on a long-term lease basis. These are the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai, Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, Mangaluru International Airport, Jaipur International Airport, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati, and the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

The Minister informed that airports of AAI are leased out in the public interest for their better management, utilising private sector efficiency and investment.

States and passengers are the ultimate beneficiaries of enhanced airport infrastructure and facilities created by private partners, who operate, manage and develop the leased airport under PPP, he said, adding that airports have emerged as a nucleus of economic activities and have a multiplier effect on the economy of the state.

The revenue received by AAI from the leased airports is also utilised in the development of airport infrastructure across the country, he added.