Kerala CM urges PM to stop Thiruvananthapuram airport handover to Adani Enterprises

Thiruvananthapuram: As the formal handing over of the operations of Thiruvananthapuram airport to Adani Enterprises is scheduled shortly, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu urging them to stop the process.

In the letter sent on Thursday, Mr Vijayan urged Mr Modi to intervene to hand over the airport to the company formed by the state government under KSIDC instead of to Adani Enterprises.

This would safeguard the interest of the state and the centre and ensure the participation of the state government in the development of the airport, Mr Vijayan said.

There has been opposition from the public against the handing over of the airport to the private company because the bid for all the six airports was won by the same company. In such circumstances, it would be difficult for the state government to support the private agency in the running and development of the airport, he said.

The state has given 635 acres of land to the Thiruvananthapuram airport free of cost. Moreover, the decision to hand over the 23.57 acres to the development of a new terminal was taken in 2005 as per certain conditions. If the airport was converted into a separate company or a separate company was formed for running the airport, the value of the land should be converted into shares of the state government, he said.

In 2003, the civil aviation secretary had given a written assurance to the state government that it will be consulted in case there was a decision for private participation in the airport, said Mr Vijayan.

This assurance was given taking into account the fact that the state government had given land and other support for the development of the airport. As per the assurance, forming a special purpose vehicle with state participation will be considered, he said.

The fact that the state government had the experience of running two international airports after forming a separate company was brought to the notice of the civil aviation minister. The state had also suggested that a committee with Airport Authority of India chairman, civil aviation secretary and chief secretary should seek the possibility of handing over the airport to a company with the state participation, Mr Vijayan said.

However, the centre asked the state to put the proposal before the secretary-level committee with Niti Ayog CEO as chairman. As per the directive, the state government put two proposals before the central government.

One proposal was to hand over the airport to the company formed by the state government. This company would identify a partner at the international level with expertise in running an airport.  The airport should be handed over to the company for a lease of 99 years, said Mr Vijayan.

The second proposal was to allow the company formed by the state government to take part in the bid and give them the right of first refusal. Both the proposals were not allowed by the civil aviation ministry. Even the right of first refusal was given with a condition that it will be accepted only if it came within 10 percent of the highest bid, said Mr Vijayan.

Moreover, there was no provision in the tender document that the bidder should have previous experience. This was surprising, he said.

The only condition was that the bidder should have previous experience in developing infrastructural development. It was in this circumstance that the public has raised concern over handing the airport to Adani group, said Mr Vijayan.

The KSIDC has already moved the High Court against the decision to hand over the operations of the airport to Adani. The court had pointed out that the bid process would be subjected to its final decision, Mr Vijayan said.