Saturday, June 15, 2019

Kerala CM Vijayan meets Modi, raises issue of Thiruvananthapuram airport’s privatisation

New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence here Saturday and expressed the state’s reservation on the privatisation of Thiruvananthapuram international airport.
The Adani group had, in February, won the bid to operate five out of six airports, including the one at Thiruvananthapuram, proposed for privatisation by the central government.
The state government had earlier appealed to the Centre to reconsider its decision to lease out Thiruvananthapuram aerodrome for operation, management and development under the public-private partnership (PPP).
“Without the co-operation of the state government, no private company can develop the airport properly,” Vijayan told the state Assembly earlier this week.

In a letter to the prime minister in March, Vijayan had demanded that the airport’s operation be handed over to the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Ltd (TIAL) floated by the government-run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).

The airport was established in 1932 on 258.06 acres of land owned by the princely state of Travancore, of which the state is the successor.

The 258.06 acres of land had been entered into the revenue records as government land.

The Airports Authority of India has admitted that only 0.05756 hectares out of the total extent of 636.57 acres of land are under its ownership.

The state government claims it has the expertise in airport management and also creditworthiness, more than that of the private entity, which does not possess previous experience in such operations.
15/06/19 Indian Express
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