Lapses in B'lore Airport: Panel for action against Infosys chief NRN, officials

Bangalore: Highlighting lapses in the construction of Bangalore International Airport, the Karnataka State Legislature Committee has recommended black-listing L&T, Siemens and Unique Zurich Airport for a minimum period of five years citing "poor quality" in the construction of airport and "appropriate action" against officials involved in important decisions in the project, including Infosys Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy, MP Rajeev Chandrashekar and several other official in the Government.
BJP MLA D Hemachandra Sagar, who headed the 21-member (15 MLAs and six MLCs) joint legislature committee (JLC), tabled report on "Examination of Construction of BIA" in the Legislative Assembly on Monday and noted serious lapses in drafting the Concession Agreement to construct green-field Bengaluru International Airport on public private partnership (PPP) model which was heavily loaded to benefit the private participants.
The JLC was constituted to examine the lapses and suggest measures for improving the airport, which became operational in May, 2008, to international standards.
The report said "Considering the poor quality of workmanship executed, the trading of shares for profit without showing an iota of concern for the general public, the arrangement of entrustment of all airport works amongst the private players in the BIAL and total apathy towards the needs of the users, the partners in the project such as L & T, Siemens and Zurich should not be considered for entrustment of any work by both the Governments or their agencies for a minimum period of five years."
It alleged that the infrastructure created (BIA) did not match international standards. D K Shivakumar of the Congress alleged that BIA lacked very basic facilities.
The panel said in October this year, one of the promoters, the Unique (Flughafen Zurich AG) Zurich Airport, Switzerland, made a profit by off-loading 12 per cent (Rs 46.15 crore) of its 17 per cent (Rs 65.38 crore) stake at whopping value of Rs 484.60 crore. "The private promoter walked away with an over 1050 percent return in just four years. This indicated that the private players have set their eyes on huge multiplication of their investment and have cut many corners for the sake of short-term profit".
21/12/09 Mangalorean.com

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Dec 2009