TrivandrumLife>> The Union Cabinet, on Wednesday, approved proposal to lease out Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Adani Enterprises for a period of 50 years. Though Adani Enterprises had won the bid to operate and manage the airport over a year ago, the state government had been opposing it.
The state-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) had participated in the bid, which was finally won by Adani in February 2019. Challenging the decision, the state had argued in high court and supreme court that they must be given preferential treatment considering their experience in running airports. The state was against handing over the airport while it was in the process of acquiring land for further development.
However, union cabinet had decided to award the Thiruvananthapuram along with Jaipur and Guwahati airports to Adani on an upfront payment of Rs 1070 crore to Airports Authority of India.
Meanwhile, the issue was getting mixed response from the politicians in the state. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that it would be difficult to co-operate with the unilateral decision of union government. While Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the decision, Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and Mullappally Ramachandran opposed it.
Tharoor opined that decision to award project to Adani was preferable considering the long delay it suffered so far. “The people of Thiruvananthapuram want a first-class airport worthy of the city’s history, status, and potential. In this context, a decision, however controversial, is preferable to the long delay we have suffered. The reality is that a private entity running the operations competitively is the only way this airport could flourish. Whoever it is, the ownership of land and airport as well as the responsibilities of ATC, Security, Customs & Immigration still remains with the Govt agencies,” he wrote.
Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran termed the Union Government’s move ‘a daylight robbery’. He alleged that there were illegal deals behind the move. The minister also expressed concern that the management by private entities might affect the arat procession through the airport land conducted as part of festival at Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple.
However, several technocrats and businesspersons welcomed the move. Technopark founder CEO G Vijayaraghavan said that the move will pave way for development of Thiruvananthapuram. In a YouTube post, Vijayraghavan said that private operator will be able to address issues of infrastructure, availability of international flights etc which the airport has been facing for over a decade.
JS
