The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the decision of the central government to hand over the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to the private sector.
The industries' body is of the view that the privatisation move would ensure not only the development of the airport but also accelerate the overall growth of the capital city.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out airports at Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur and Guwahati and through public-private partnership (PPP). Adani Enterprises had won the rights to run six airports, including Thiruvananthapuram, through PPP model after a competitive bidding process in February 2019.
These six airports are owned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The CPM-led Kerala government and the Congress-led opposition have opposed the privatisation move.
Thomas John Muthoot, chairman, CII Kerala State Council, said that considering Kerala's high billing in world tourism charts and regular traffic flow, the Thiruvananthapuram airport needs to be competitive at par with international standards. “A private investor brings fresh capital to expand the facilities and flights, so that the passenger revenues will grow and even the places around the airport will indirectly benefit” Thomas John Muthoot, the chairman and managing director, Muthoot Fincorp Limited, said in a statement on Friday.
Terming the government's decision an ideal move, Muthoot said it would improve flight connectivity and facilities at the airport including logistics and infrastructure facilities. “This would lead to a remarkable growth in traffic volume and would also lead to better quality of service and facilities,” he said.
He said the privatisation of the airport would increase revenue with influx of passenger movement which will further help to revive the aviation sector in these testing times.
Several members of the CII echoed Muthoot's views.
V K Mathews, executive chairman, The IBS Group, said an airport is a commercial and customer services enterprise and therefore not an ideal area for the governments to operate compared to private sector. “An efficient, convenient and state-of-the-art airport will increase air connectivity and promote economic development. Better the airport, more the traffic and increased earnings for the state by way of levying user fees.
Trivandrum airport is extremely critical to the development of Trivandrum region and the southern districts of Kerala. The state’s vision to develop Trivandrum as a knowledge-driven digital hub is critically dependent on Trivandrum airport and its air connectivity. In spite of being the 5th international airport of India, Trivandrum lagged behind most of the airports during the past decade. A private investor for Trivandrum airport will be for its advantage, but investors may not come if there is opposition, especially political opposition. Several airports in the country got immensely benefited by private investment, and Trivandrum should not be excluded. Immediate action should be taken to expedite the process to hand it over to the the company who has won the bid. We now have a great opportunity to make it India’s best. We should not miss this opportunity,” Mathews said.
Tony Thomas, consultant, Boston Consulting Group, said privatisation of the airport is a welcome first step in elevating the airport to international standards and to improve the air connectivity. “Seaport, Airport, National Highway, Ring-roads, Railways as well as the proposed Inland Waterway, Silver Line project and Metro project will make Thiruvananthapuram a global competitive city for investments, creating more businesses and job opportunities and improving the living conditions of the local citizens,”he said.
E M Najeeb, chairman, Air Travels Enterprise, said the Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industries also welcomed the government decision.
“This decision will substantially contribute the Growth of overall development of southern Kerala. Tourism sector will definitely benefit once facilities of the airport improves and the national and international connectivity is increased,” he said.
According to G Vijaya Raghavan of Venture Management Associates, the state government should focus on governance and use its resources for the welfare of the people and not to badly run businesses. “I hope that everyone who is opposing this sees good sense and together works to support the development of the airport and I hope the state government also does the same. Just to reiterate the impact on job creation and economic development would be very high if this initiative takes off.”
“In our own experience, privatization of the Kochi airport has certainly brought in a better image to the state and the same thing happening to the capital city is the need of the hour. As a representative of the healthcare organisation, I strongly feel that a privatized airport will improve medical value travel to the state,” Dr M I Sahadullah, chairman, KIMS Hospital Group, said.
Reghuchandran Nair, former vice chairman, CREDAI, requested the state government, opposition parties, political organisations and trade unions to accept the central government's decision which is based out of a transparent tender process.
