Work on Kannur airport to take off on December 17

Thiruvananthapuram: Not leaving it to vagaries of coalition politics, the Left Government in Kerala has at last marked December 17 to lay the foundation for Kerala’s fourth international airport in the northern Kannur district.
It’s early days to say who the main investors are but it’s been decided that the Rs10bn airport would be developed at Mattannur, near Kannur town, on the private-partnership model.
According to an agency report from New Delhi, the majority stake of 51 percent would be held by Kerala Government and it’s agencies while the remaining 49 percent would be open to public, including NRIs.
The State Government would keep 26 percent, leaving 23 percent to state-owned public sector units and two percent to agencies in which the State Government has minor stakes.
The State Government stake would be the value of the land that it has been acquiring for the venture since 1998. It has already acquired 1,300 acres and another 700 acres is in the pipeline.
Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told media persons in Delhi yesterday that the work would be completed in two years and it would be the largest airport in the state. Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Federal Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel would be guests of honour at the stone-laying.
Former Air India chairman V Thulasidas has already taken over as the managing director of the new company — Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL). A study says close to 1.3 million passengers would use this airport annually and it would boost exports of textiles and perishables, earning huge cargo revenue.
21/11/10 John Mary/The Peninsula, Qatar

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Categories: Airports Nov 2010, New Nov 2010