Thiruvananthapuram airport: Kerala government has opposed lease to Adani Enterprises
The Kerala government didn't qualify in the international bidding process for Thiruvananthapuram airport, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted after the state opposed the centre's move to lease out the airport to Adani Enterprises in public private partnership mode for 50 years.
"Parallel narratives can be no match for facts. A campaign has been launched against the decision to privatise the Thiruvananthapuram airport," Mr Puri said in a Twitter thread that detailed the complex process.
"It was stipulated that if the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) bid comes within the 10 per cent range of the winning bid, they would be awarded the work. There was a difference of 19.64 per cent between them and the next bidder when bids were open," the Civil Aviation Minister said.
"Winning bid quoted Rs 168 per passenger, KSIDC quoted Rs 135 per passenger and third qualifying bidder was at Rs 63 per passenger. Thus, despite special provision of RoFR being given to GoK (government of Kerala), they could not qualify in international bidding process carried out in a transparent manner," Mr Puri said, referring to "right of first refusal" or RoFR. "They (Kerala) subsequently approached the Hon'ble Kerala High Court and Hon'ble Supreme Court. All these facts are available in the public domain," the minister said.
The Left government in the state and the Congress-led United Democratic Front have opposed the move, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the decision overlooked Kerala's repeated requests that the airport's operations and management be transferred to a special purpose vehicle in which the state government is a major stakeholder.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, after an all-party meeting on the matter, said, "The centre's decision is against the people of Kerala and when the state government is ready to operate and manage the airport, they should have been allowed, especially when Kerala has experience of operating Kochi and Kannur airports." All political parties in Kerala except the BJP opposed the centre's move at the all-party meeting.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, however, backed the centre's decision, calling the move "competitive". Thiruvananthapuram is his constituency. "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," Mr Tharoor tweeted.
"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 (air traffic control), security, customs and immigration still remains with government agencies," Mr Tharoor said.
Mr Tharoor said he would have explained his views if his colleagues had consulted him and that he was speaking in the best interests of his constituency. "Had my colleagues consulted me before taking a negative stand, I would have explained my views to them. I am speaking in the best interests of my constituency. As its MP, that is my job," Mr Tharoor said.
In February last year, Adani Enterprises was declared the winner to run six airports as it was the highest bidder. In July 2019, the centre approved the proposal for leasing out three of them - Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Lucknow - to the Ahmedabad-based company.
Adani Enterprises signed a concessionaire agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on February 14 this year for operation, management and development of these three airports.
In June, the AAI gave three more months to Adani Enterprises to take over the management of these three airports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.