'No need to remove belts': Mohandas Pai urges govt to end physical frisking at airports

Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital, on Thursday called on the aviation ministry to replace physical frisking of passengers and luggage with machine-based security systems at Indian airports. "Aviation Minister, Please have machine-based security checking of people and luggage, electronics inside bags, no need to remove belts. Please stop this physical frisking, great airports globally have machine-based security. We cannot be backwards," Pai wrote on X.

Pai has been raising this issue for months. In September, he criticised the existing security checks as outdated and primitive. "Very antiquated primitive process where there is manual frisking. The world has moved on with use of new Xray machines but we are stuck. Minister @RamMNK, Pl order New Machine based freaking of passengers and luggage. This is a shame," he had said.

His comments came after Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu praised the newly inaugurated Navi Mumbai International Airport, describing it as a major milestone in India's aviation growth.

"The milestone Navi Mumbai Airport project has been made possible through Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Pragati initiative, ensuring the project once stalled could see light of the day. It is a proud addition to India’s aviation glory, being admired across the world for its unique character as a future aviation hub. With four planned terminals and expansive cargo and MRO facilities, it stands as a symbol of India’s growing aviation capabilities," Kinjarapu wrote.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated phase one of the Navi Mumbai International Airport on Wednesday. The airport, spread across 1,160 hectares and built at a cost of Rs 19,650 crore, is India's largest greenfield airport project and the second international airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The facility is expected to ease traffic at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and significantly boost the city's aviation capacity.

During the inauguration, Modi also took a walkthrough of the airport and launched several other infrastructure initiatives, including Phase 2B of the Mumbai Metro Line-3, which connects Acharya Atre Chowk to Cuffe Parade at a cost of Rs 12,200 crore. The Prime Minister dedicated the entire Rs 37,270 crore Metro Line-3 (Aqua Line) to the nation, marking a key milestone in Mumbai’s urban transport network.