He complimented the GMR for the top class quality Delhi airport.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday evening that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had become richer at the expense of GMR, and that it is now able to spend the money earned from successful PPP enterprises like the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on developing airports in other parts of the country.
He was speaking at the GMR Felicitation Ceremony held at the state-run Hotel Ashok here organised by GMR for winning the best airport in the world from the international Airport Council International for the second time in a row in 2016.
He said, "For Mr Rao it is a learning experience, not an earning experience." He hoped that GMR's accolades will be matched by the balance sheets as well.
The finance minister once again took pot shots at the socialist era of the first three decades after Independence when the government taxed people to build and run airports and airlines. But he said when the Vajpayee government decided to adopt the PPP model for modernising the airports, there was resistance.
He complimented the GMR for the top class quality airport of Delhi and said that the JFK (airport of New York) looked like a country cousin of the Delhi airport.
Jaitley also expounded his philosophy that government should not be involved in businesses because that could be done only by taxing people, which is a bad thing. He said that low taxes should be the norm.
He said that the success of the PPP model in civil aviation will now be extended to the Indian Railways, where 400 railway stations will have private sector participation. A similar thing would be done with sea ports as well.
He also said that India was at a turning point and that infrastructure would push the economy forward.
Speaking of the potential of civil aviation, where more and more people will fly, he said India was an "aspirational country" with a middle class the size of US' population.
Other ministers who attended the function were Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Culture and Tourism Mahesh Sharma and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju.
GMR congratulated the Modi government on completion of two years in office and expressed happiness that the economy is growing backed by right policies.
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